Demon Game
by Yami Faerie
Summary: Demon Blood AU. Sam joins the competition out in Cold Oak, SD. Will Dean and Bobby be able to find Sam and the other special children before someone plays the game and pays the price? Retelling of 2.21/2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose".
1. Chapter One: Opening Move

**Demon Game**

**Chapter One: Opening Move**

**Did I say Monday? I might be a little excited about getting this story going, especially after the emo ending of the last thing I posted, and this chapter just flowed from my brain through my fingertips and onto the screen like magic. Here be the retelling of 2.21 and 2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose", though probably not quite the way you might have imagined it. I really hope you enjoy the story ahead, it's gonna be interesting!  
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* * *

><p><em>There are defining moments in life that make us who we are and shape the world around us as we know it. Some moments come by mistake, while others are made with purposeful intent. In the end, some moments, <em>particularly_ those made with intent, are capable of determining the fate of the world._

_When Dean Winchester was four years old, his mother had a baby boy named Samuel. Sam was born exactly one month premature and it was weeks before Dean was able to do more than look at him, a full month before his parents were able to bring him home._

_Dean still remembers the first time he laid eyes on Sam through a glass window in the hospital. Sam had been so tiny back then and had to be closely monitored by the nurses to ensure he was breathing properly._

_Not that Dean knew that back then. What he _remembers_ most about that first month of Sam's life is the short conversation with his father that defined what his relationship with Sam would be like._

"_So I'm a big brother now?" he had asked his father._

"_You are," his father had answered, smiling a little. Dean had looked at baby Sam and thought about what his mother had told him._

"_And big brother's are s'posed to take care of little brothers, right?" he had asked next._

_Dean still remembers the slight frown that crossed his father's face. "Right," he had said. "That's what Mommy told you."_

_Dean remembers nodding his head as he put two and two together. "So he's my Sam."_

"_I… I guess he is," he remembers his father's almost hesitant answer._

"_My Sam…" Dean had said, feeling awed by the idea that someone could be his. "Sammy. He's Sammy, and I'm gonna take care of him." Dean still recalls the way he smiled at his father before looking back at Sam again. "You gotta be strong, Sammy," he had said through the glass. "Me an' Mommy an' Daddy are gonna take care of you, so get better, okay?"_

_It's moments like this in the days following Sam's birth that define the kind of person Dean is, as well as who he is going to become as he gets older. He is a big brother, and Sam is his to look after and protect. He isn't always good at it, and sometimes Sam is just another annoying little brother he doesn't want to spend every minute of every day with, but he has somehow managed to be there for the moments that mattered the most._

_Sam _is_, in actuality, Dean's purpose and reason for living. Sam's existence defines him, even shapes him._

_It makes it that much harder for Dean to stare down at his brother's lifeless body._

"_What am I supposed to _do_?" he shouts to an empty room. No one answers him._

_Dean is alone._

_The next moment will define the fate of the world indefinitely._

* * *

><p><strong>48 hours earlier: April 24, 2007<strong>

_April showers bring May flowers._

Sam idly considered the rhyme as he and Dean drove aimlessly down the freeway in Arkansas. It tended to rain a lot in early spring, but the way things were going, it was amazing more places hadn't flooded lately. He leaned back in the passenger seat, staring out at the dreary world around them as it was illuminated by the Impala's headlights. The way the rain was going, there probably wouldn't _be_ any flowers in May because the whole world would be flooded, just like in the story of Noah's Ark.

There hadn't been a lot of talking between the Winchester brothers since Sam had rescued Dean from the Djinn in Illinois two days ago. It shouldn't have hurt him, knowing how much Dean desired a normal life, but the idea that he might have been willing to _stay_ in the drug-induced fantasy for however long he would have lasted _did_.

It was moments like this that made Sam wonder if Dean really understood how much he needed him to stay around in the fucked-up reality of what was his world and life.

"I'm hungry," Dean suddenly said.

"Last sign said another ten miles to the next town," Sam replied, barely glancing at Dean and resisting the temptation to read his emotions. He was still eternally grateful to Danielle Young for teaching him how to control his empathy, even if she had gone missing two days ago (Dean didn't know that yet because that required an actual _conversation_), but there were moments he wished it were still out of control, just so he would have an excuse to try and understand where his brother was at, these days.

The fact of the matter was that wishing couldn't change what had happened. John and Mary were both dead, and Sam was an ex-blood junkie with more abilities than you could shake a stick at who had lost his girlfriend and had his dreams of a normal life smashed to pieces by the tide. _Life sucks_, he thought, _and then you die_. Callous, yes, but true.

When they reached the next town, Dean pulled into the first diner he saw, the lights inside doing little to light up the dark world around them. He then pulled out his wallet and handed over two twenties.

"Cheeseburger, extra onions," he said simply. "Oh, and pie."

Sam sighed and glared at Dean. "Dude, I'm the one who's gonna have to ride in the car with your extra onions."

Dean shrugged and Sam let out another sigh before stepping out into the pouring rain and running over to the diner. He quickly pulled open the door and headed inside to the counter.

"Hi there," said the waitress brightly. "Table?"

"No, thanks," Sam said. "Take-out."

"Okay," the waitress said. "What can I getcha?"

"Uh…" Sam quickly glanced at the menu to see if there was anything he wanted when he felt it. Even worse, he knew that it was already too late.

Danielle was right. Azazel's plans were moving forward, right now.

Sam started to turn to try and warn Dean, anyway, to maybe even help the customers and staff, but then he smelled sulfur and everything went black.

Dean was going to kill him for failing so badly.

* * *

><p>Sam was gone.<p>

Dean flew out of the Impala and into the small diner, immediately taking in the sight of the now-dead customers and staff.

Every last person's throat had been slit.

Dean checked out every inch of that diner before he found sulfuric residue on the back door. "Sam!" he called out, stepping out into the rain and taking in the empty darkness before him. "Sammy!"

Dean's thoughts were whirling as he ran back through the diner and out the front door. The street was empty, the nearby buildings dark, all closed up for the night. "SAM!" Dean shouted.

Sam would have said something if he'd felt a demon nearby, wouldn't he? True, they weren't exactly on the best of speaking terms after everything with that damned Djinn, but Sam would freaking _tell_ him —

Unless it was an ambush. Sam's abilities could only do so much.

"Shit," Dean hissed, striding back to the Impala as he pulled out his phone. He tried dialing Sam's number, but it went straight to voicemail. "Shit!" he violently kicked out at the nearest tire before sliding into the driver's seat of his car.

Okay, Bobby, then. Dean wiped off his wet face as best he could before holding his phone back to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Bobby, it's Dean, I need your help."

"Dean? What's wrong?"

"Sam's gone, Bobby," Dean choked out, hating the way he voice betrayed his inner feelings. "A demon came and fucking _took_ him without warning."

"Where you at?" Bobby asked at once.

"Arkansas," Dean sighed. "About eleven hours from Sioux Falls, I think, maybe less if I push it."

"All right," Bobby said, "Dean, you start driving this way and I'll meet you outside of Omaha, okay?"

"Omaha?" Dean asked. "Why there?"

"I'm finishing up a hunt in Watertown, it's about two hours away from my place and I've got things there I could use to help us. Now, tell me everything."

* * *

><p><strong>November 27, 2006<strong>

Ava Wilson came awake with a gasp and shot up into a sitting position.

It was freaking _cold_.

Staying calm had never exactly been one of Ava's strong suits, but she somehow managed to force herself to not panic and take in her surroundings. She was lying on an old mattress in an ancient room. And even worse?

It was snowing outside. Shit.

Ava was surprised to discover she was dressed in her winter gear, but wherever she was right now, it was _a lot_ colder than back in Illinois.

Trying to suppress her shivering, Ava stood and began to slowly walk around, taking in the room, the hallway outside it, and the stairs that led to the front door of the building she found herself in.

It was probably even colder outside, but Ava needed to find out where she was, as well as what had happened to Brady. She'd been cooking dinner for him, waiting for him to get home, right?

Ava's memories felt jumbled and twisted and she didn't like it, at all.

Opening the front door of the building, she stepped out onto a covered, wooden walkway and realized the town had a western, rustic feel to it. And given how alone it was…

A ghost town. Terrific.

"Hello?" Ava called out after a moment's hesitation. "Hello? Is there anyone out here?"

Silence.

"Great," Ava remarked to herself as she made her way over to the next building. "All alone in a freakin' ghost town."

"You're not alone."

Ava barely suppressed her scream as she whirled around to see an older man with short, grey hair. "Who are you?" she asked.

The man grinned. "All in good time," he said. "Now, come along, there's three others here and I'd like to get started sooner rather than later."

"Started?" Ava echoed. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Nowhere," the man tossed over his shoulder as he started down the wooden walkway. "There's miles of forest surrounding us, so escape won't be happening anytime soon."

Ava hesitated before deciding she probably had nothing left to lose and moving after the man.

"Why would I wanna escape?" she asked.

"You're Sam's friend," the man answered, and Ava's insides went even colder than the air she was breathing. "That means I have no guarantees at this point that you'll participate fully."

"How do you know Sam?" Ava couldn't help but ask.

The man paused and grinned at Ava from over his shoulder. "We go _way_ back," was all he said before turning away. "Hailey Walker, Jordan Thomas and Ronald Belnap, would you please come out!" he suddenly called out in a very loud voice that made Ava start and take a step back. A few seconds later, other people who were bundled up like Ava began to emerge from different buildings along the 'main street'.

"That's right," the man called out to them. "Get over here, would ya? We've got introductions to make, rules to establish, the whole nine yards — and the sooner we get this started, the better."

Ava didn't like this at all, but the fact remained that until she knew more about what was going on, this man was pretty much her only hope of getting back home, back to Brady. She silently watched as the other people made their way through the snow and over to where Ava and the man were standing.

"What's going on?" asked the taller of the two guys who approached. "Where are we?"

"As I told Ava Wilson here, you're nowhere," the man said. "There's nowhere to go, and no one to save you except yourselves."

The other girl, Hailey, stared at the man with disbelief. "You're kidding," she said, eyes wide as she stared up at him.

"I'm afraid not," the man said. "So, Ava has visions, Hailey's got telekinesis, Jordan's sets things on fire with a touch and Ronald's as strong as the Hulk." He grinned. "The rules are simple. Only one of you lives."

The man's eyes turned yellow and Ava felt her gut clench.

"You're Azazel," she said.

"Bingo!" Azazel proclaimed with a wide grin. "Sammy taught you well. See, I've got a lot of you special kids living all over the country. Thing is, I only need one of ya. This is the beginning of the competition, and whoever lives, well…" He trailed off with a small shrug. "You live and you do a few tasks for me, and you, in turn, keep your families safe."

Ava couldn't believe this. "What about your army?" she asked.

"I've got a demon army downstairs," Azazel said, "and they're just _waitin'_ to burst free, you know? What I need to find for my army now… is a leader."

Sam and Dean had gotten it wrong. He didn't need them all to be his soldiers. He only needed the one to be a leader.

Oh, God.

"So," Azazel said after a moment had passed, "let's get started, shall we? No trying to escape or I'll have to have you automatically disqualified." He grinned. "Let's see who my American Idol will be."

And then he was gone.

* * *

><p><strong>April 25, 2007<strong>

When Sam woke up, he was lying on the ground (which was damp and slowly soaking through his clothes), and the morning sun was barely visible through the cloud cover. He scrunched his eyes shut for a moment, trying to stem his headache before he forced himself to sit up and look around.

It was clearly an old ghost town, and it was surrounded by trees that seemed to go on forever. Pushing to his feet, Sam continued to look around as he pulled out his cell phone.

No signal. Damn.

But there were others here. Sam could sense them.

Putting his phone away, Sam made his way to the nearest building and reached out with his empathy, trying to determine if the person nearest to him was someone he knew or not.

There was a creak of wood as the person made their way towards the front of the building. Sam paused, still trying to figure it out —

"Andy?" he said before he could stop himself, and the creaking stopped. "Andy Gallagher?"

"Who's there?" Yeah, it felt like Andy, all right, and it was definitely his voice.

"It's Sam," he called out. "Winchester," he added a moment later.

There was a pause, and then Andy stepped into view from a narrow alleyway between the building Sam stood in front of and the one next to it. "Sam," Andy breathed. "Thank God, I thought I was all alone here!"

"There's three others here," Sam said. "I haven't figured out who they are yet, though."

"Sam?" came a distant voice. It was female, and Sam recognized it, at once.

"Danielle!" he called out. "Dani, I'm over here, it's okay!"

A moment later, a figure stepped out from the corner of a distant building and Sam knew at once he was right.

"Sam," Danielle said, grinning before she ran forward and flung her arms around Sam, hugging him tightly. "How are you? Where are we? What's going on?"

Sam hugged Danielle back and opened his mouth —

"I'd like to know that, too," Andy said before he could say anything, and Danielle stepped back. "I'm Andy, by the way," the small man added.

"The mind controller guy," Danielle said with a small nod. "Sam told me about you." She turned back to Sam. "Where are we? What are we doing here?"

"I don't know," Sam sighed, running a hand through his hair. "What's the last thing you two remember?"

"Honestly?" Andy said. "My fourth bong load."

Danielle stared at Andy. "Bong load," she said in that flat voice that meant she was a little disturbed by the idea.

Andy nodded. "It was weird," he said. "All of a sudden, there was this really intense smell, like uh…"

"Sulfur," Danielle said at the same time as Sam. "I remember that," Danielle added, tugging at her ponytail. "I had a late-night dance practice up at my school, and I know Roxy was picking me up…" She shrugged and looked up at Sam. "You?"

"I was at a diner…" Sam trailed off. "Dean," he breathed.

"What?" Andy said. "Is he here?"

"No," Danielle answered immediately. "There's two other people here, but I didn't recognize either of them. Did you?" she asked Sam.

Sam shook his head.

"Recognize?" Andy echoed.

"Oh, we sense emotions," Danielle said quickly. "Empathy."

"Ah," Andy said.

And then Sam remembered.

"Wait, Dani…" He stared down at Danielle with a faint frown. "You… you've been missing for two days."

"What?" Danielle stared up at him, and he lowered his shields slightly, sensing genuine confusion and fear. "But… how's that possible? You… I remember, you told me _last night_ on the phone that Dean was _missing_ —"

"That was two — well, almost three days ago, how," Sam said. "I found him."

"Oh," Danielle said. "I don't understand, then. How —?"

"I don't know," Sam said, "but wherever we are, the whole thing just can't be good."

"You mean because we're all psychics," Danielle said, and Sam nodded.

"It's what we've got in common," he said, "so maybe the other two out there will be like us, as well."

Danielle nodded silently when they all heard someone.

"Hello?" It was a male voice this time. "Is there anybody here?"

Sam moved forward in the direction of the voice, Danielle and Andy just behind him. "Hey," Sam called out, and from around the corner of another building further down the way came two people. One was a guy, tall, black and wearing army fatigues (Sam thought he looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place him), and the other was —

"Lily," Sam said without thinking. The blonde girl frowned and paused.

"Do I know you?" she asked, and Sam observed how she kept her hands close to her body at all times. _She probably never learned of a way to control it,_ he thought sadly.

"No," Sam said. "I mean — I'm Sam. This is Danielle and Andy."

"I'm Jake," the army guy said. Right, Sam thought, the guy with super strength.

"How did we get here?" Lily asked. "A minute ago, I was in San Diego."

"If it helps any," Jake said to her, "I went to bed last night in Afghanistan."

There was a long moment of silence.

"I know how we got here," Sam finally said, "but I don't know if either of you will believe me."

Lily and Jake both frowned. "I'm willing to believe anything at this point," Jake said.

Sam nodded. "Okay, but I'm still pretty sure you won't buy it, anyway." He swallowed. "We were brought here by demons."

There was another long moment of silence and Sam knew this was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	2. Chapter Two: The Acheri

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Two: The Acheri**

**The story continues! Please read and enjoy. :)**

* * *

><p><strong>November 27, 2006<strong>

"We can't do this!" Hailey said for the third time in the last hour since Azazel had disappeared. "We can't kill each other!"

Ava rubbed at her temples to try and stave off the growing headache. Hailey had been growing increasingly hysterical in that time and it was really starting to grate on her nerves.

"We don't even _know_ each other," said Jordan, the tall guy. "Why _would_ we?"

"Probably because Azazel is gonna just kill us if we don't," Ava spoke up from her corner of the abandoned store they had taken shelter in. "You know, it's really cold right now. You think you could make us a fire to warm up with?"

"We're in a wooden structure," Jordan said slowly like he thought she was stupid.

"Ronald here can punch through the floor, then," Ava sighed, "and then we can settle down there with some heat. Seriously, I'm gonna freeze to death soon."

"And I won't?" said Hailey, voice still tinged with hysteria. "I'm from Vegas!"

Ava refrained from rolling her eyes. "Then heat is a great idea."

Ronald scowled. "I don't think —"

"So you _do_ want to freeze," Ava sniped, stepping forward. "Look, Azazel's a nasty demon with nasty plans, so listening to him is probably the _last_ thing any of us wants to do right now."

"A demon," echoed Jordan with a look.

Ava rolled her eyes this time. "His eyes were _yellow_, Jordan," she snapped. "You ever see anything like that before?"

"Well, no —"

"Most demons have black eyes," Ava cut Jordan off, "but Azazel's kinda like their leader."

"So why are we here?" asked Ronald.

Ava sighed. "Wasn't he clear? We've all got special abilities, but he only needs the best of us."

"The best," said Jordan.

"There's a lot more of us out there," Ava explained. "He went to great lengths to create our existence."

"Create?" Hailey echoed.

Ava closed her eyes and rubbed at her temples once again. This was going to take awhile, she could tell. "Maybe if we could work on the fire thing first?"

Jordan and Ronald exchanged glances before Ronald shrugged and started punching his way through the floor. "Thank you," Ava said, working hard to keep the sarcasm from her voice. Ten minutes later, the group of four had a fire going.

"You said this Aza-guy —"

"Azazel," Ava corrected Ronald.

"Right. You said he created us?"

Ava nodded. "At the age of six months, he came into our nurseries and fed us demon blood, which is pretty much the source of our abilities, or the thing that unlocks it." She shrugged. "Point is, there's dozens of us out there, but Azazel only requires one to lead his demon army."

"So he wants us to duke it out and gain himself a heavyweight champion?" said Jordan with raised eyebrows. "I'm sorry, but demons? They don't exist."

"The Catholic Church has said otherwise," said Ava. "Right? I mean, they've got all their exorcisms and holy water — and it works. I've seen someone who was possessed by a demon go through an exorcism and survive."

"So, what, they went all rotating heads and pea soup on you?"

Ava groaned in frustration. "This isn't some movie, Ronald! Demons are vicious, throat-slitting sons-of-bitches who would kill you without a second thought!"

"So why haven't they just killed us?" asked Jordan.

"Azazel ordered them not to," Ava answered. "They won't help us stay alive, though. I knew a guy who could electrocute people to death and a demon in the area killed some other people and then let some Hunter take him out without a backwards glance."

"Hunter?" said Hailey.

"People who kill all things supernatural," Ava explained.

"How do you know all this?" asked Ronald.

"I know two Hunters," Ava said. "Sam and Dean Winchester. Sam's just like us, but he's a Hunter, too."

"And he didn't kill you?" said Jordan.

Ava rolled her eyes. "If he'd been like the one who took out my friend, then he'd have to commit suicide for having visions like me." She wasn't sure why she didn't tell them everything else Sam was capable of, but it somehow didn't seem important enough to mention. "He and his brother were the ones who told me everything I know."

There was a moment of silence.

"How do we get outta here?" asked Hailey. "I just wanna go back home."

"So do I," said Ava, "but you heard Azazel. We try to leave and we die."

"Would he really do that?" asked Ronald.

"He killed Sam and Dean's mom just because she walked into Sam's nursery at the wrong time," Ava said softly. "He's a demon, and he could do worse things to us than just drop us in the middle of a ghost town and demand we play ultimate survivor."

No one said anything to that.

* * *

><p><strong>April 25, 2007<strong>

Dean and Bobby met outside of Omaha on a two-lane road early the next morning. It was still raining, and Sam was still missing. Dean had called Ash at the Roadhouse while he made the drive, hoping that if Bobby didn't have anything for him, that maybe the mullet-tastic man would. He knew it might not be possible given that the man had never been able to find traces of the others who had gone missing, but he had to hope that maybe this time…

Bobby spread out a map on the hood of his truck. "Here's all the demonic activity over the last month."

Dean stared. "There's nothing," he said, meeting Bobby's eyes. "How can there be nothing?"

"I don't know," Bobby sighed. "Nothing big or low-level… It's been dead quiet."

"That doesn't make sense," Dean said, looking back down at the map in agitation. "How is that possible?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Dammit, that means were looking for a needle in a three-thousand mile haystack!"

"I'm sorry, Dean," Bobby sighed, "I don't know what to tell you."

"So, what do we do, close our eyes and just point?"

Bobby rolled his eyes. "We'll find him," he said.

Just then, Dean's phone rang. He flipped it open at once. "Ash?"

"Yep, it's me."

Dean closed his eyes. "Please tell me you found something."

"It's a negatory on Sam, man," Ash said, sounding slightly uneasy, "just like all the special kids I've tried to track since December, but I _did_ manage to find… something else."

"Well?" Dean said after a moment. "What is it?"

"You've gotta come over here."

"Dude, I don't have the time —"

"You need to _make_ the time," Ash snapped, and Dean had never heard the Lynyrd Skynyrd roadie sound so serious. He was silent for a long moment. "Not only did I find something that'll help us find Sam beyond the shadow of a doubt, but this — this is _huge. _Seriously, you need to get over here."

"Fine," Dean said. "We'll be there in an hour." He snapped his phone shut. "Looks like we're goin' to the Roadhouse."

Bobby smiled slightly. "All right," he said. "Let's go."

Dean nodded silently and stalked to over to the Impala. He _needed_ to find Sam so badly it hurt.

_I'll find you,_ he swore to his brother as Bobby got into the car and he started the engine. Whatever it took, he'd find Sam.

No matter what.

* * *

><p>"Excuse me?" Lily said after some length of time. "Did you just say —?"<p>

"Demons," Sam said. "Yes. They're real. Look," he said when he sensed the disbelief in both Jake and Lily, "you're both twenty-three, and you were both born one month premature in the months of either May or June."

"How —?" Lily started.

"About a year and a half ago, you got these headaches, and then you found you could do things," Sam cut Lily off, wanting to get through the convincing stage quickly enough so they could get to the escaping stage. "Things you didn't believe were possible. I started having visions."

"I'm empathic," Danielle spoke up, "feeling other people's emotions."

"I can put thoughts in people's heads," Andy said, "like a Jedi Knight." He smiled encouragingly. "And don't worry, it doesn't work on people like us."

"Visions? Sensing what people are _feeling_ at any moment?" Lily was starting to get upset, and Sam knew why as she looked at Andy. "You go, 'Simon says give me your wallet', and they do?" She shook her head. "That's fucking great! I'd _kill_ for something like that."

Sam stayed silent.

"Lily —" Danielle said, but the other girl cut her off.

"Don't tell me it's okay, cause it's not," Lily snapped. "I — God, I touch people —"

"And their hearts stop," Sam finished for her.

"How do you know that?" Lily asked after a very long moment.

Sam sighed and looked away. "I have visions, remember?" he said. "I can't control what I see."

Lily didn't say anything for a long while. "You… you didn't see the day that I —?"

Sam swallowed and looked back at her. "Your girlfriend," he whispered. "I swear I can't control it."

A tear made its way down Lily's face. "Why didn't you try and find me, warn me?"

Sam dropped his gaze again. "My vision happened on July thirty-first," he said. "By the time I looked you up —"

"That's the day it happened," Lily whispered. "Why didn't you have it any sooner?"

"I told you," Sam said, "I have _never_ been able to control when a vision happens, and every time, I watch someone _die_. I can't —" He broke off and turned away.

"Sam, it's okay," Danielle whispered, reaching out and squeezing his hand.

There was another moment of silence.

"I'm sorry," Lily whispered. "It's just — all these different abilities, and I get one that _kills_ people that I can't control."

"I knew a kid who electrocuted people to death," Sam sighed, still turned away. "He was killed before he learned to control it."

After another moment, Jake spoke up. "You said demons brought us here? Why should I believe something like that?"

"What's your ability?" Andy asked.

"I'm strong," Jake said after a few seconds. "Guy flipped his vehicle on a bad road and got pinned underneath. I lifted it off him like it was nothing, and everyone said it was just some freak adrenaline thing."

"Except you did it again," Danielle said.

"Bench-pressed 800 pounds, stone-cold calm."

"That one comes in handy with demons," Danielle sighed.

"What, you believe him?" Jake asked.

Danielle gave out a dark laugh and Sam turned back to face Jake and Lily. "I've seen demons before," she said, "and by the way, Sam's got the super-strength thing, too."

"Wait, I thought you said you had visions," Lily said.

Sam nodded silently.

"But then —" Lily broke off. "You know what? Never mind." She raised her hands slightly and turned away with a heaving sigh. "I just wanna go home."

"And you think we don't?" Jake said, glancing at her. "Look," he said to Sam, "demons aren't real."

"My dad was possessed by one," Danielle replied calmly, "and another _killed_ my husband a year ago. Sam's telling the truth."

"I guess you two were never visited in your dreams by a man with yellow eyes?" Sam finally asked. Lily shook her head and Jake frowned for a moment before shaking his.

"He has," Danielle breathed, "but I don't think he'll believe us without proof."

"There's no demons nearby," Sam replied just as softly before raising his voice again. "Look, we were all brought here for some reason, so the best we can do for now is stick together until we figure out what's going on."

"I thought you said demons did it," Jake said snidely.

"They brought us here, yes," Sam said, tamping down hard on his frustration, "but there aren't any around right now, which means we've got no way of finding out why they brought us here, let alone what they want."

"We should leave, then," Lily said. "I don't like it, here."

"We don't even know where _here_ is," Danielle said, "but it's obvious we're in a ghost town surrounded by a forest." She paused and shivered. "Gives new meaning to the phrase, doesn't it?" she said to Sam.

Sam smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm pretty sure this place isn't haunted, but…" He turned and looked around. "There might be some identifying markers that could give us a location. I've read up on a lot of ghost towns over the years."

"I think that's as good an idea as any," Danielle said.

Sam looked over at Jake and Lily. "Look," he said, "I know none of this makes any sense to you, but just — stay close for now until we figure things out, all right?"

Jake didn't look happy, but he nodded silently, Lily doing the same a moment later.

"Great," Sam said. "C'mon, we need to see if there's anything that tells us where we are." Without waiting for an answer, Sam started making his way down the dirt street, Danielle and Andy right behind him with the other two trailing just behind them.

"How did you know I was born a month early?" asked Jake after a few seconds.

"Because we all were," Sam answered absently. "My birthday's May second, Andy's is June thirtieth, and Danielle's is on May eighth." He continued moving forward, looking around for something that might tell him where they were.

"I guess you know how we all got our abilities, too?" Jake asked next.

Sam sighed and stopped walking, taking a moment before turning to face the tall army guy. "A demon named Azazel made a Deal with our mothers ten years before we were born to save our fathers from certain death. My mom did it to bring my dad back from the dead. Danielle's mom saved her dad from a heart condition that almost killed him. We were born ten years later, and six months after that, Azazel came to collect."

"Collect how?" Lily asked.

"He fed us demon blood," Sam answered, taking in Lily's disbelief. "Look, I've known about demons and werewolves and spirits and ghouls my entire life. My mom was burned alive on the ceiling of my nursery because she tried to stop Azazel from doing anything to me, so knowing this kind of stuff is pretty much my life."

"My God," Lily whispered after a moment. "He killed your mom?"

Sam nodded. "He did the same to my adoptive mom," Andy spoke up. "My dad never talked about it, nor did he go on a life-long search to try and find the demon."

"Not all dad's are as obsessive as mine was," Sam said, smiling sadly as he thought of John.

"This is a lot to take in," said Jake. "You're seriously tellin' me that all those things you see in the movies are real?"

"Not Bigfoot," Sam said, "and vampires are different than what most mythology says, and werewolves don't actually transform into full wolf forms, either, but yeah, a lot of that stuff is real."

"And you fight it?" Lily asked.

"The family business," Sam sighed, "literally. My mom's family did it, and she tried to leave it all behind until she died, and then my dad learned and taught us everything, instead."

"Ouch," Andy murmured. "You never mentioned that, before."

Sam shrugged silently, turning away and casting his eyes around before a sizable bell caught his attention. It looked familiar. "I recognize that," he said, moving towards it and ignoring the others.

The bell had an oak tree on it. _Fantastic_, Sam thought to himself.

"We're in Cold Oak, South Dakota," he said. "All the residents fled because they swore the town was haunted."

"But there's nothing here," Danielle said. "You're _sure_ that's where we are?"

"I remember reading about this place when I was in high school," Sam answered.

"You've got a good memory," Andy remarked.

"There's a reason Dean calls me a nerd," Sam said with a small grin. "Anyway, now that we know where we are, the next step is looking around for any provisions and anything we could use to protect and defend ourselves."

"Why?" asked Lily.

"Because knowing where we are still doesn't tell us why we're here," Danielle said.

Sam nodded. "Let's start with these buildings over here," he told them, pointing to the nearest structures. "Hang onto to anything iron, and lemme know if you find any salt."

"Salt?" asked Jake.

"Protection," said Danielle.

"Seriously?" Jake said.

"It's a brave new world," Sam dead-panned. He turned to head into the building when he sensed a demon approaching rapidly. "Shit," he hissed, "everyone, get inside now, we've gotta find salt and iron pronto."

"A demon's coming already?" asked Andy, looking alarmed. Sam nodded and turned to look out at the sky above the trees. Already he could see the black smoke of the approaching demon.

"That's it out there," he said, pointing. Lily let out a loud gasp and Sam grasped her shoulder. "C'mon."

The five of them headed into the building and quickly started searching out cupboards, closets, trunks and whatever else they could see that might hold something.

"I got salt!" yelled Andy as Sam grabbed an iron poker from the fireplace.

"Everyone in here now!" Sam shouted. He felt the other four approaching, felt the demon coming right to their doorstep, and then Lily screamed. "Dammit," Sam cursed under his breath as he headed in the blonde's direction.

He found Lily backed against a wall with a small girl standing before her, face distorted and with long nails that were almost like claws. Sam reacted at once, swinging the poker straight through the girl's midsection and she turned back into black smoke at once, letting out an ear-piercing shriek and zooming away until Sam couldn't sense it any longer. "You okay?" he asked Lily.

Lily nodded, looking rather faint.

"That was a demon?" came Jake's voice from down the hall.

"I'm pretty sure it was an Acheri," Sam answered, "a type of demon that disguises itself as a little girl." He ran a hand through his hair. "We need to find supplies and set up somewhere safe as soon as possible."

The lack of arguments came as a blessing.

* * *

><p>Dean was beginning to understand just how much shit could go wrong in the space of an hour.<p>

Pan right to the burned-down structure of the Roadhouse.

"No," he breathed, slamming on the Impala's breaks and quickly putting the car into park. He stumbled from the car, staring at the wreckage. Nothing but debris was left, and the fire wasn't completely put out, either. "No," he said again.

"Dean —" Bobby said.

"Ash!" Dean yelled, striding forward and into the wreckage. "Ellen, Jo!"

No one answered.

The worst part was seeing the burned corpses and not knowing who they had been before being roasted alive.

"Dammit!" Dean lashed out, kicking over a burnt wooden beam and causing it to tumble to the scorched ground. "How the hell am I gonna find Sam now?"

"Dean, calm down," Bobby called as he approached.

Dean couldn't stop from glaring at the older man. "You're kidding, right?" he snarled. "Sam was taken from right under my nose! We weren't talking and it wasn't even Sam's fault —" He broke off and ran his hands through his hair. "I've gotta find him, Bobby. I promised Dad I'd watch out for him."

"I know, son," Bobby said quietly. "We'll find him. There's gotta be another way."

Dean sure hoped so.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	3. Chapter Three: The Oak Tree on the Bell

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Three: The Oak Three on the Bell**

**While we're waiting for the world to end, I figure I can at least publish a new chapter for your perusal. And be warned, I start killing people in this chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>November 27, 2006<strong>

"Is there any food?" Hailey asked about an hour later, breaking the tense silence that had fallen over the small group.

"I doubt it," said Jordan. "I mean, seeing as how we're in an abandoned ghost town in the middle of who-knows-where…" He stood up and stretched. "It might be worthwhile to look, though."

"Just don't go near the forest," said Ava. "Demons could misinterpret that as trying to leave and kill you for it."

Jordan scowled, but nodded. "I'll go with you," said Ronald. "You two stay here, okay?"

Hailey nodded quickly. "We will," promised Ava, and the two men left the small building.

There followed a long period of more silence, wherein Hailey huddled closer to the fire and Ava thought over the things she knew.

There were dozens of special children.

Azazel only needed one out of all of them to be the leader of his demon army.

Whoever won would also win protection for their loved ones.

Ava missed Brady.

Ava _loved_ Brady.

_I would do anything for my family._

"I'm gonna step outside for a minute," Ava said abruptly, causing Hailey to start before turning to her with wide eyes.

"Why?" she asked. "Ron said to stay."

"I'm not going far," Ava reassured Hailey. "Just — stay warm, I'm sure the boys'll be back soon." She hauled herself out of the giant hole in the floor and headed out the old store's back door.

It was freezing outside, and silent as tiny, dust-like flakes of snow gently swirled their way down to the ground. Ava wrapped her arms around herself and stared out at the white-slated landscape, the forest barely visible in the oncoming darkness.

Taking a deep breath, Ava turned and walked away from the back of the store, not stopping until she reached a small, secluded walkway that presumably led back to the storefronts. She leaned against one wall and looked out at the snowy landscape again.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Ava jumped, turning to see Azazel standing a little ways away, hands shoved casually in his pockets. It was weird to hear a demon call something beautiful, especially given that they were nothing but chaos, death and destruction.

"Yes," Ava said anyway as she looked away. "It is."

Neither the demon nor its creation said anything for a minute or two.

"You're engaged to be married, right?"

Ava nodded. "In March. I'm guessing that won't work anymore, though."

"Maybe not March," Azazel admitted, moving forward and leaning against the wall opposite Ava, "but if you live, your wedding could still be in the cards."

Ava swallowed. "Why go to such lengths if you only need one of us?"

"I could just pick one and hope for the best," Azazel said, "but my instruction manual was very specific."

"Your instruction manual," Ava echoed, staring in bewilderment at the yellow-eyed demon. "That sounds ridiculous."

Azazel merely shrugged and there was another minute of silence.

"What does the winner have to do?" Ava ventured to ask.

"Just a few errands, nothing too big," Azazel said. "I mean, I'm gonna need my army unleashed, and then once Lilith's done her thing —"

"Lilith?" Ava could help but cut in. "Who's she?"

"The first," Azazel answered. "Anyway, once she's done her thing, I'll need my leader to do one or two final tasks."

"What?"

Azazel grinned. "I'm not giving that much away, sweetheart," he said, "but it won't be something too arduous."

"And all I have to do is kill every last special child you bring here? Isn't _that_ an arduous task?"

Azazel raised his eyebrows. "Why, are you actually saying you want to kill a bunch of kids no older than yourself?"

Ava narrowed her eyes. "My life is boring," she said. "Yes, I love my fiancé, and yes, I wanna marry him more than anything, but…" She sighed and looked away, shoulders slumping. "I want more," she admitted. "I want to explore, to go places and learn more about this world."

"You mean the things Sam and Dean do," said Azazel.

"Yeah, I guess." Ava looked back at the demon. "But I don't know how to be a killer. All I have are stupid visions. I've got _nothing_ on the others here, let alone Sam."

Azazel smiled slightly, and it sent chills down Ava's already cold spine.

"You already know what it takes," Azazel said.

Ava frowned.

"Sam and Dean told you," Azazel added after a moment.

Oh. You either forced it out under extreme duress, or you… Ava closed her eyes. Or you accepted your role and let the switches flip.

_I want to go back home to Brady. I want to be strong and adventurous. I want everything I've ever dreamed of._

Opening her eyes, Ava looked back at Azazel. "Fine," she said. "I accept it. I'll kill them all."

Azazel flashed another grin. "That's my girl," he said, and then he was gone. Ava clenched her fists at her sides took several deep breaths before turning around and slamming her fist into the wall.

It broke right through the wood.

And it felt good.

* * *

><p><strong>April 25, 2007<strong>

"Have you been working on the Jedi mind thing?" Andy asked sometime later.

The small group of psychics had settled on the second story of a building near the center of Cold Oak's main street. Jake and Lily were pouring out salt lines under Danielle's direction while Sam sorted through the 'weapons' they had found.

"Not a whole lot," Sam answered. "Why?"

"Oh, well," Andy said, "it turns out you can do more than just order people around. You can actually put _images_ into their heads as well. Like, there's this guy I know — gay porn, all the time."

Sam paused and stared down at Andy.

"Gay porn," he echoed. "Seriously?"

Andy shrugged. "Don't like him so much."

Sam frowned. "Right. What's your point?"

"Well, I could send an image to Dean," Andy said, "something that would let him know where we are."

Sam blinked. "You're positive?"

Andy nodded.

"Okay," Sam said, stepping back from the table, "how do we do this?"

"I'm gonna need something that Dean's touched recently." Sam dug around in his pockets and pulled out a receipt.

"Would this work?" he asked, holding it out.

Andy frowned and stared at the signature.

"D. Hasslehoff?" he said.

"Yeah," Sam said, "that's Dean's signature." Andy gave him a look. "It's — it's kind of a long story."

Andy nodded. "Okay," he said in that 'I don't wanna know' tone of voice. "Would an image of that bell outside be enough to tell him where we are?"

Sam frowned. "If he's with Bobby, then it might be, but he might need to see me, as well."

"I can do that," Andy said. "The only thing is I don't know how far away I can make it go."

"Maybe I could try and help?" Sam suggested.

"You've never done it before," Andy said.

"I think it'd work." Both boys turned to see Danielle in the doorway, absently playing with an old knife she'd found in a trunk downstairs. "Sam's seems to be capable of using another's abilities if he has that some one, as well."

"What?" Andy said.

"He used my empathic powers to shield his mind when it became too much for him to sense crowds in the past," Danielle explained as Jake followed her into the room. "I think it could work in reverse to amplify your attempt to reach Dean."

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm willing to try it," Andy said. "We'll need to head back over to the bell, though."

Sam considered and nodded. "You're sure about this, Dani?"

Danielle nodded. "Pretty sure. I mean, it may take a few tries since you only ever did it off instinct when you were with me, but yeah. It'll work."

"What's going on?" asked Jake. "I'm confused."

"Just find more iron," Sam said before looking around with more awareness. "Where's Lily?"

Danielle blinked and stood up straighter. "I don't —" She broke off. "I shoulda kept my shields down, we _knew_ she was a flight risk."

"I don't blame you," Sam said, "I had mine up, too, force of habit." He quickly made his way from the room and down the stairs, the others just behind him. He stepped outside, reaching out with his mind to try and locate Lily's position.

He couldn't sense her at all, but there was a fleeing demon. The Acheri from earlier. _Shit._

"Lily!" Sam shouted, running in the direction he'd felt the demon fleeing from.

"Sam, wait!" Danielle shouted, but Sam ignored her and headed straight for the forest's edge. He rounded the corner of the final building and skidded to a halt.

Lily was lying at the edge of the forest, abdomen ripped open and her entrails ripped to shreds around her. She was dead.

"Sam — oh, God." Andy's voice trembled as he, Danielle and Jake caught up to where he was. "Oh my God!"

"Jake, get him outta here," Sam ordered as he approached Lily's body. "Danielle, you go, too."

"I'm not leaving you," Danielle said firmly as she came up behind him.

"C'mon," he heard Jake say to Andy.

"Head back to the room we demon-proofed," Sam called over his shoulder. "We'll catch up in a few."

"Okay," Jake replied. Sam glanced over his shoulder to see Jake pulling Andy away, the shorter boy looking shell-shocked.

"Dani —"

"I'm not saying it again," Danielle cut him off. "I've seen dead people before."

"Not like this," Sam pointed out softly.

"I'm not squeamish," Danielle told him. "We can't leave her out here."

Sam sighed. "No, we can't." He dropped to his knees by Lily's body. "Why did she have to flee?"

"I don't know," Danielle said softly, rubbing at her forehead for a moment. "But now we know… there's no leaving this place right now."

Sam sighed. "None of the other special children who've gone missing have come back," he said. "I never even found Ava."

Danielle silently reached out and placed her hand on Sam's shoulder. "I know," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

There were too many questions and no way to get answers. He didn't know what had happened to the other special children, but based off of Lily, they could all be dead. Which made absolutely no sense. Shaking his head, Sam focused on putting Lily together enough to transport her back to the town, Danielle helping him silently, never once complaining about the blood that stained her hands as they worked.

Once that was done, Sam and Andy went over to the bell to work on sending Dean the right images. "Okay," Andy said, still looking a little pale. "So we've got this receipt with a fake name on it —" He broke off to give Sam a probing look. "And we've got you and this bell here, so…" He trailed off. "I guess you touching my shoulder should be good enough?"

Sam nodded. "Guess so." He clenched his hands nervously before reaching out and grasping Andy's shoulder. "So, now what?"

"Now," Andy murmured, clutching the receipt in his hands and shifting from one foot to the other, "we concentrate."

Sam nodded again and they fell silent.

* * *

><p>Dean placed his hands on the hood of the Impala and dropped his head, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his jaw. "What do we do now?"<p>

"I dunno," Bobby sighed.

"I mean," Dean continued, "we've got no way of knowing what Ash knew, or if Ellen and Jo are part of the bonfire here or not, and now we've got no fucking way of finding Sam!"

"Dean, calm down," Bobby said. "Please."

"I can't —!" Dean broke off as unbelievable pain shot through his skull. He gasped, clutching at his head and the Impala's hood alternatively as he knees threatened to give out.

"Dean?" he heard Bobby call out in concern, but it was hard to focus around the pain.

_There was a bell._

Dean came to, the pain fading somewhat but not vanishing and he heaved in deep breaths, dropping to his knees and pressing both hands to his skull. "Fuck," he groaned, "that hurt!"

"What happened?" Dean cracked open his eyes to look at Bobby, who was now crouched down next to him.

"I — I dunno," Dean managed. "I thought I saw —"

He broke off as the pain spiked again.

_Sam was standing next to a bell with the engraving of an oak tree on it. He looked worried, but unharmed as he looked Dean right in the eyes before pointing at the bell._

"Come find me," Dean whispered. "It was Sam. I saw him, Bobby, I _saw_ him!"

"You saw him?" Bobby sounded slightly skeptical. "What, you mean like a – a vision or something?"

"No," Dean snapped at once, "I don't have visions, Bobby, I'm not —" He cut himself off before the word 'freak' could escape, because Sam _wasn't_ a freak, he just did freaky things, that was all! Taking a deep breath, Dean forced himself to stand. "That was about as fun as a kick in the jewels," he muttered.

"But you saw Sam," Bobby clarified.

"Yeah," Dean said, "he was…" He trailed off and squeezed his eyes shut. "He was safe, alive, unhurt, all of that, and he was… He was standing next to this… this bell."

"A bell?" Bobby's voice suddenly sounded different, like he'd found something important. "What kind of bell?"

"A – a bell," Dean said in confusion as he opened his eyes again, "a big bell. There was some kind of engraving on it —"

"Was it a tree?" Bobby asked. "An oak tree?"

Dean frowned and concentrated. "Yeah," he said slowly. "An oak tree. Why, does that mean something to you?"

Bobby nodded. "I know where Sam is."

Those five words had never sounded better.

* * *

><p>"How do we know that it worked?" Sam asked when Andy stepped away after a few minutes of concentration.<p>

Andy shrugged. "Either it did or it didn't."

Sam sighed and nodded. "Stay with Danielle and Jake, I'm gonna look around more of these buildings, see if I can find us some candles or other supplies to get us through the night."

"Okay," Andy said. "Be careful."

"I will," Sam said. He watched Andy approach Danielle and Jake and strode away.

There weren't many supplies in a lot of the buildings, but Sam did find something really interesting, regardless. He stepped into one of the stores and was surprised to find a large hole punched into the ground along with the remains of a campfire.

"Weird," Sam remarked to himself as he stepped closer. "Looks recent, too." Well, recent compared to the town's age, he corrected mentally. This campfire was probably a few months old. Just as Sam was about to turn away, he spotted something shining in the dirt, so he lowered himself into the hole and reached down, extracting a silver ring with a single diamond on it. It was a ring Sam recognized, if only because he seen it on Ava's hand after Brady had proposed to her.

"Ava," he whispered, clutching the ring in his hand as he rose. He now knew that Ava had been here, which probably meant that all the other special children had been to this place at some point, as well. The question was, where were they now? Were they really all dead?

As Sam brooded over these new questions, he continued his search, finding candles, a few lamps that still had oil in their bases, some wool blankets, and even some cotton sheets in good enough condition to be used as wrapping for Lily's body. He carried everything over to the building they had chosen to place Lily's body in for the time being. Jake and Andy had returned to the safe room, but Danielle was sitting next to the mangled corpse of the woman they had barely known, eyes shining, but her face dry. She looked up when Sam entered the room, holding up the sheet. They carefully wrapped up Lily's body and stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Ava was here," Sam told Danielle softly.

"How d'you know?" Danielle asked.

Sam held out the ring. "I recognize it from after her fiance's proposal," he said.

"It's lovely," Danielle said, lightly touching the ring before looking up at Sam. "Why isn't she still here?"

"I don't know," Sam said. "I don't even know if she's alive, but at least we know that all the others were here at one point or another."

Danielle nodded. "How are supposed to get out of here? Wouldn't Azazel _tell_ us if there was some way?"

Sam shrugged. "I'm not certain about anything anymore," he admitted. "Nothing about this makes any sense to me."

It was nightfall by the time they retreated to the safe room once more. Jake and Andy had lit half the candles and one of the lamps, and now both men were sitting in stoic silence, Jake next to the doorway, and Andy at the table in the middle of the room.

"I guess there's no food, right?" Danielle sighed as she handed Andy one of the wool blankets and sat down, wrapping the other one around her shoulders.

"I'm afraid not," Sam said, dropping onto another chair by the windows, his iron poker held loosely in one hand.

"We're gonna find a way out, right?" asked Andy.

"Of course we are," Sam said as encouragingly as possible, ignoring the looks he got from both Danielle and Jake.

It was silent for several minutes.

"So," Danielle spoke up after some time, "what happened to that Djinn you thought had Dean?"

Sam looked up. "I found Dean and he stabbed it in the back."

Danielle scrunched her nose. "Lovely."

"It was holding me down," Sam said with a snort. "I would've thrown it off after another moment — they're _really_ strong, by the way — but Dean thought it was gonna get me and… you know how Dean is."

"Overprotective and awesome," Danielle said with a tired grin. "Of course." She set her elbow on the table and propped her head in her hand. "So, what happens when a Djinn captures you?"

Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It locks you in your mind," he said. "Fantasy land, or well…" His shoulders slumped. "You live the life you've always wished for."

"Dean would want your parents alive," Danielle said softly.

"Well, our mom was, but Dad was still dead," Sam said softly, ignoring the curious looks Andy and Jake were giving him and Danielle. "He said Jess was alive, too, but Dean and I, we didn't talk much at all."

Danielle winced slightly.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Pretty much. And Dean… he kinda wished that he'd stayed, anyway."

Danielle didn't say anything for a moment. "What would your perfect world be?" she finally asked, tightening the blanket around her shoulders.

Sam shrugged. "Honestly? The same thing, only I'd rather Dean and I were at least _friendly_ with each other."

"You do have a very tight bond," Danielle said softly. "Get any more gay couple jokes since I saw you last?"

Sam snorted. "Sadly, yes."

Danielle chuckled and looked away. "I'd want Jared back," she said after a moment. "I think you and Dean would've gotten along with him."

"Yeah," Sam agreed quietly.

"It really hurt, knowing that Dean could've chosen a drug-induced fantasy over you," Danielle observed and Sam had to smile a little at how well she knew both him and Dean.

Sam swallowed convulsively. "We were barely speaking to each other when I got nabbed," he said sadly. "I mean, Dean told me about his dreamland, and I told him I was glad he came out of it, but then he admitted that he had _wanted_ to stay and…" Sam trailed off. "I can't do this without him," he admitted. "I have no idea if he's still mad at me or where he's even at right now. For all I know, the demon that snatched me out of that diner could've slit his throat like it probably did the people who were inside the diner with me and there's _no one's_ coming to find us, at all."

"I believe that Dean's still alive," Danielle said, "and I believe he's tearing this country apart, trying to find you. He'd do _anything_ for you."

Sam nodded silently. He knew that like he knew how to breathe.

"It's getting late," Jake announced from his spot by the door. "We should probably take turns keeping an eye out."

"None of you can sense any approaching demons," Sam pointed out, but Jake merely shrugged.

"You said demons can't get in here," he said. "So long as no one leaves without you by their side, we should be fine, right?"

"Makes sense to me," sighed Andy. "I'm dead on my feet."

"That's probably because you never got to do your _fifth_ bong load," Danielle joked.

Jake frowned. "You do that shit?"

"It's not shit," Andy said defensively, "it's fuckin' _awesome_, is what it is."

"All right," Sam cut in before anyone could say anything else, "let's just take our turns sleeping and keeping watch, and hopefully the morning'll bring us some way of getting out of this place."

Andy and Danielle nodded. "I'll take the first watch," Jake said, "I'm not tired."

"Jet lag, or whatever you'd call this?" Andy said.

"Sounds about right," Jake said with an actual smile. "The rest of you should try and rest for now, okay?"

Danielle nodded and turned to face the table, folding her arms on its surface before lowering her head so it was cradled on her arms. "Goodnight," she murmured tiredly, Andy following suit a few moments later.

"You sure you're fine for a few hours?" Sam asked Jake.

"Yeah," Jake said. "Get some rest, Sam."

Sam resettled himself in his chair as comfortably as possible and closed his eyes. Truth be told, he was pretty exhausted himself, and sleep could only do him good at this point.

It wasn't long before he drifted off.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	4. Chapter Four: Chain Reaction

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Four: Chain Reaction**

**So I had no idea what the hell I was doing when I first sat down on a hotel bed in London (trip with hubby) and started writing "Demon Blood" last year. Once I got the first few chapters going, however, I started putting together a plan, and I specifically looked forward at season 4, realizing that it was going to have the most changes to it based on where I was going with my writing. I worked backwards from there to figure out how I was going to get to that point, and I realized that some things were going to have to stay the same, even if I didn't want them to. That being said, there are a total of 5 deaths in this chapter between the Ava flashback and where Sam is in the present. One character I would have loved to have saved, but I couldn't, and you'll understand why in about two or three chapters. And I think I'm done boring you all with my note, so read! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>November 27, 2006<strong>

Ava stood outside for several minutes, feeling around in her own brain to learn what she was now capable of. She could sense Hailey's emotions, and she could vaguely tell where Ronald and Jordan were located. It was so strange, but the best of her new abilities, she quickly realized, were ones she knew Sam had, such as the ability to sense demons. There was even a demon hovering nearby in a way that made her think it was there for her to command. But maybe Ava _could_ command it, could control it completely. She wondered if Sam also had this capability, but had never realized it because of the mind control thing he already had going on. It made sense to her.

Of course, it didn't really matter, did it? By the time Sam showed up, she was going to be the best of them all. Nothing was going to stop her from getting back home to Brady. Nothing.

Ava placed her hands to her temples on concentrated hard on the demon she felt, feeling pleased when it approached her seconds later. Of course, the headache that followed as a result hadn't been unexpected, but it still hurt a lot.

The cloud of black smoke that shifted its way through the falling flakes of snow solidified into the shape of a small girl when it reached Ava's location. Ava could sense its displeasure at having to follow the commands of a human, but Ava quickly asserted her dominance and made her request.

If one could call it that, anyway.

"Go and kill the girl," she said, "kill Hailey."

The little girl-shaped demon hissed, face contorting and fingers stretching into claws, but it still slunk into the silent shadows, right towards Hailey.

The poor redhead never stood a chance.

Hailey's screams were awful to listen to, but Ava steeled herself, repeating over and over in her mind that it was necessary and only brought her one step closer to freedom. She slumped to the ground, rubbing at her temples and scrunching her eyes shut against the building headache.

Clearly, this was going to take some getting used to.

Ava suddenly realized that Ronald and Jordan were quickly approaching the store and forced herself back to her feet. She had a role to play, she understood that now, and it wouldn't do to show her hand before she could kill both boys. Ava staggered back into the store and dropped to her knees when she spotted Hailey's corpse.

It was horrible, and Ava couldn't stop from retching at the sight.

When Ronald and Jordan burst into the room, Ava found she was able to cry hysterically. "Oh my God," she gasped out. "She's dead!"

"What happened?" asked Jordan, dropping down to her and pulling her away from the upchucked contents of her own stomach.

"I just — I only stepped outside 'cause I had to go!" Ava managed to say. "No bathrooms here, but I _had_ to —" She broke off and found herself sobbing ever more. Damn, but being a killer was harder than she'd expected. "And then I heard Hailey scream and when I came in…" Ava took a deep breath and started crying all over again.

"I don't get it," said Ronald. "Hailey didn't leave, and we didn't go near the forest, so why is she dead?"

"Could there be someone else here?" suggested Jordan.

"I don't see how," said Ronald. "That — that _demon_ would've said so, right?"

Both boys looked at Ava, and she gave a helpless shrug.

"We're gonna have to stick together from now on," Ronald said decisively after a moment. "We're not playing this sick game, and we're not dying, okay? Now, we should probably move to another spot —"

"We don't have to," Ava cut him off. She wiped at her tears and took a few shaky breaths. "I mean, this is awful, but I just — I don't wanna move…" She trailed off and felt more tears slip free.

"Okay then," Ronald sighed, "we'll stay here, but me and Jordan are gonna have to move Hailey's body, all right?"

Ava had to admit as she nodded that Ronald made a good leader. Too bad he was going to die, she thought as she watched the two men move Hailey into another room before returning to the fire Jordan had created earlier.

They all took turns sleeping, and Ava struck when it was her turn, calling on the little demon-girl once more to rip both men to shreds. This time, she made herself watch and spent ten minutes afterward spitting up bile from her empty stomach.

"It gets easier," Azazel called from the other side of the room. "I'll send in a team to clear out the remains, and I'll have another bring you proper nourishment. You might want to relocate to another building in the meantime, though."

Ava felt anger at both Azazel and herself for her actions. But, she had made her choice, and she knew now that there was no going back. She was a monster. Slowly rising, she wiped at her mouth and pulled off her gloves.

She never noticed when her engagement ring fell off.

* * *

><p><strong>April 25, 2007<strong>

Bobby insisted on driving over to his place to grab some extra supplies with the argument that they had no idea what they were gonna find when they finally reached Cold Oak. Dean didn't like it, but he could certainly accept it. No way were the demons playing fairly by any means at this point, and it made Dean more desperate to find his little brother.

_Sam's fine,_ he told himself repeatedly. _I'm gonna find him and save him and _kill_ Azazel once and for all._

He didn't allow himself to think about the fact that Azazel was the one who had the only weapon capable of killing him. He had to focus on Sam for now.

"So," Bobby said as they neared his home, "you said that you and Sam weren't talking?"

Dean sighed. "We were Hunting a Djinn, and it captured me, stuck me inside my head in the 'perfect' life while it pumped me full of drugs and drank my blood."

"Ew," Bobby commented.

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "Anyway, we kinda got into this fight because part of me wished I hadn't left that life."

"Were your parents alive?"

Dean smiled slightly. "Dad wasn't, but our mom was, and so was Jess, but me and Sam…" He shook his head. "We barely spoke to each other, didn't get along at all."

"But you wanted to stay, anyway?"

Dean couldn't bring himself to look over at Bobby. "Normal life, working on cars, dating a hot nurse, Sam achieving his every dream and desire… It was a good life, you know? Normal." He felt his eyes burn but blinked the tears away. "I want normal, but it really hurt Sam because said he doesn't believe in normal, anymore."

"Can't say I blame 'im," Bobby said after a moment. "You never tried living a normal life after your mom died, but Sam did, and he lost it."

"Yeah," Dean murmured. "I know." He paused before saying, "It wasn't his fault we weren't talking."

He spotted Bobby's nod as he pulled into the salvage yard and drove up to the house. He put the Impala in park and turned off the engine. "So," he said after a moment, "what do we need?"

"I'm thinkin' mostly medical supplies," Bobby said, "food and water, too."

"Works for me," Dean said. "What if there's others there with him?"

Bobby shrugged. "More food? We should take two cars out there just in case."

Dean snorted softly and exited the car, Bobby following suit and leading the way into the house. "I'll grab my med kit," Bobby said. "You put together food like sandwiches. Oh, and don't forget the water."

Dean nodded and headed for the kitchen. He put together several sandwiches and stuffed them into a cooler with as many bottles of water as he could find. He hauled it out to the Impala and checked the beer cooler he and Sam had before heading back inside and snagging a bottle of whiskey while Bobby was too busy to notice. Ten minutes later, Bobby was finished gathering his medical supplies and they slid into their respective cars, peeling out of the salvage yard and heading north.

* * *

><p>"<em>Heya, Sammy."<em>

_Sam's eyes snapped open and he shot to his feet, iron poker still clutched in his hands as he stared at Azazel's form in the doorway of their safe room. Jake didn't react, and Danielle and Andy were still sleeping soundly, slumped on the old wooden table and a faint line of drool slipping from Andy's open mouth._

"_This is a dream?" Sam asked cautiously. Azazel grinned and nodded._

"_We need to have a little talk," the yellow-eyed demon said, gesturing with one hand for Sam to follow._

"_I'm not following you anywhere," Sam said, and Azazel let out a chuckle._

"_And I'm not giving you a choice in the matter," he replied, lifting one hand and snapping his fingers._

_Just like that, Sam found himself standing back on Cold Oak's main street, Azazel calmly walking away with his hands shoved in his pockets. Sam clenched his jaw, but forced himself to follow._

"_What the hell is goin' on?" Sam finally asked, keeping his distance from the demon. "Why are we here? What happened to everyone else, to Ava?" He wasn't sure if the bastard's patience would wear out abruptly, especially since this was only a dream, but he was still too curious to not say anything._

"_This?" Azazel turned, arms lifted to each side. "It's a competition, Sammy."_

"_It's _Sam_," Sam snapped, and Azazel barked out a laugh._

"_You let Dean call you that," he pointed out._

"_That's Dean," Sam said with a shrug. "If Dad was alive, I wouldn't stop him, either, but I _hate_ you."_

_Azazel grinned. "Of course."_

"_So, competition?" Sam prodded._

_The grin got bigger. "I left you under a false impression last year," he said. "My army is gonna consist of demons, but my _leader_ will be 100%, pure human."_

_Sam furrowed his brow. "What about the demon blood?"_

"_Oh, well, there's that, too," Azazel said quickly, "but the point is that no demon gets to possess my leader. I've got something much better in store."_

_Sam _really_ didn't like how that sounded. "Does it have something to do with that convent you slaughtered back in '72?"_

_Azazel's eyes narrowed and Sam took a step back without thinking._

"_What did that old man tell you?" the demon asked softly, and _this_ was the fearsome creature that had possessed him briefly, that had possessed his father and nearly killed Dean._

"_Nothing," Sam said quickly. "Well, nothing that made a lot of sense. I thought you wanted a leader, but that the others were still useful as soldiers."_

_Azazel moved closer, and Sam forced himself to stand still. "What else? I _know_ you heard more than that before the old man's heart finally gave out."_

_Sam swallowed hard. "Lehne mentioned someone called Lilith," he said quietly, "and a cage and seals. That's it. Nothing else." He wasn't sure why he was surrendering that information so easily, but he got the feeling that his life really _was_ at stake, now._

_Azazel stepped closer and stared at Sam for another long moment before turning away. "As I said, this is a competition," he spoke in a much lighter voice, and Sam felt his shoulder's relax against his better judgment. "I only need the best and brightest of you crazy kids."_

_Sam considered this and could only come to one conclusion. "Ava Wilson's dead, isn't she?"_

_Azazel glanced at Sam over his shoulder as he continued down the street, Sam following warily. "Speared by that iron poker you found, actually," he said with another grin. "She had a lot of potential, too, but she got too cocky in the end."_

_Sam didn't say anything for a moment. "Why are you telling me this?"_

"_I'm giving you the inside track," Azazel said, turning to face Sam with raised eyebrows and shrugging. "See, even if I disregarded everything that happened in that lovely warehouse back in L.A., you're still my favorite."_

_Sam frowned, tensing up again as he remembered his blood addiction._

"_You're a soldier, Sammy," Azazel continued. "Daddy created the perfect warrior when he chose to raise you and your brother to be Hunters. You're tougher than Jake, smarter than Andy, filled with more anger than Danielle…" He shrugged again. "You are _everything_ I could want in a leader, Sam. So I'm telling you, only one of you crazy kids gets to walk out of this place alive, and my money's on you."_

"_I'm not killing the others," Sam said firmly. "I'm not that kind of person."_

"_But you're capable of it," Azazel pointed out. "I heard about that cop in Baltimore after Buck dosed you full of drugs." Sam closed his eyes shut for a moment, hating to remember. "That was an accident, but that man meant to _kill_ your brother, right?"_

_Sam nodded silently._

"_You're capable of so _many_ wonderful things," Azazel said softly._

"_But I choose not to take that path," Sam said, surprised by how steady his voice was. "You can't rig this competition, Azazel. You can't make me kill the others."_

"_No, but _you_ can make that choice," Azazel shot back. "I always knew that you had to be the one from the day I met your mother. Of course, if it hadn't been for Dean, I might never have crossed paths with her _or_ your father."_

_Sam blinked. "What are you talking about?"_

_Azazel blinked, too. "That's odd," he remarked, stepping closer to Sam. Sam backed away without thought, arms raised defensively. "You don't remember."_

"_Remember what?" Sam said tersely._

_Azazel tilted his head to one side. "I already told you," he said, "unless —" He broke off before breaking into a large grin. "Angels. Figures."_

"_What?" Sam said._

"_Dean time-traveled back to 1973," Azazel said, fixing Sam with his yellow-eyed grin. It was disturbing to look at, as always. "He tried to stop me, even got his hands on the Colt, but all he did was shove Mary right in my face. She was _very_ attractive back then," he told Sam with a look in his eyes that made Sam want to punch him, "so young and tough, and I just_ had_ to get closer. So, I possessed your grandpa, and you know what Dean told me?" The demon stepped closer and Sam had to force himself to stand still once again. "He said he was Samuel's grandson, and that he'd been sent back in time to stop me from completing my plans. I snapped grandma's neck and tracked Mary down to where she and John were hiding. They were planning on eloping, you know, escaping Samuel's tight ship. Samuel didn't like John much."_

_Sam swallowed hard. He didn't want to hear this._

"_If Dean hadn't shown up, then Mary and John would have been safe from my plans," Azazel said lightly. "Instead, I snapped your daddy's neck and forced your mother to make the Deal that allowed me access to your nursery exactly ten-and-a-half years later, like the perfect chain reaction." The grin was back. "Good times."_

_Sam looked away. "You're lying," he said._

"_I wouldn't lie to you about this, Sammy," Azazel said, voice taking on a hard edge. "It's because of your big brother that you're a freak, kid, and I don't regret a moment of it."_

"_Shut up," Sam whispered, backing away._

_Azazel started laughing. "Did I hurt your feelings, Sammy? I'm not sorry, not for any of it."_

_Sam fought the urge to turn away, not trusting Azazel even in dream form. "I want to wake up, now," he said._

"_Sure thing," Azazel said, grin still in place. "Just remember… I'm rootin' for ya." And then he snapped his fingers._

* * *

><p>Sam's eyes opened and he shot up in his chair, taking in the room and seeing that everything was still the same.<p>

"You okay?" asked Jake quietly.

Sam swallowed before nodding. "Yeah," he said, voice a little rough, "just uh… just had a weird dream."

There was a moment of silence.

"You dreamed of the man with the yellow eyes before," Sam finally said. "Azazel. Why'd you lie about it?"

"Who gave you permission to read my emotions?" Jake shot back.

"Danielle pointed it out to me," Sam said calmly, "but normally we don't play lie detector. It was more of an issue of the fact that neither of us knew you, let alone whether or not to trust you."

"Do you?" Jake asked.

Sam nodded. "You still lied."

Jake rolled his dark eyes. "I just thought they were weird nightmares," he admitted. "He only ever said that I had some grand destiny and that I should hone my strength as much as possible."

Sam nodded again. "Sounds like Azazel, all right."

Danielle snorted awake suddenly. "Wha' time s'it?" she asked, voice rough from sleep as she rubbed her eyes.

"Late," Jake said and Sam huffed a small laugh as Danielle stretched.

"Oh," she sighed, slowly rising. Andy twitched and slowly sat up a moment later with a wide yawn, wiping away the drool from his mouth. "Still no signs of any demons?" Danielle asked, stepping over to the windowsill and staring out into the darkness.

"Nope," Jake said. "Still nothing to tell us why we're here."

Danielle looked over at Sam. "You said that none of the others came back."

Sam nodded. "I think they're all dead."

Andy froze mid-stretch, eyes wide as he lowered his arms.

"But you said this demon was making an army," Jake said, sitting up straighter. Sam sighed.

"That's what I thought," he said, "but Azazel… I think he purposely misled us, made me think that we all had a choice, a… a chance."

"Then what's the point?" Andy asked, Danielle nodding as she lightly rested one hand on the salted windowsill.

Sam slumped in his chair. "A leader," he said. "If everyone else is dead, it's because he's weeding out the best one to lead his army."

Neither Jake, Andy nor Danielle looked pleased by the news.

"Then I guess we're not supposed to get outta this place together, then," Andy said slowly.

"I… I don't know," Sam said softly.

There was a long moment of silence.

"This whole situation sucks," Danielle said at last.

"I hear ya," Jake said with a small scowl. "Trapped in a ghost town…" He shook his head and scrubbed at his face. "You know the army's gonna think I'm a deserter if I turn up on American soil?"

"I doubt they'd believe that a demon did it," Sam joked dryly, and Jake snorted.

After another minute of silence, Danielle spoke up. "Sam, I gotta go."

"Me, too," Andy chimed.

Sam sighed at the information and forced himself to stand, only now realizing that he was still holding the iron poker Azazel said had been used to skewer Ava.

Suddenly, he found he didn't much want to hold the thing, anymore.

"Let's go," he said to Danielle and Andy, nodding to Jake as they stepped out of the room.

About two minutes later, Sam was startled when he felt the Acheri approaching once more. "Danielle!" he called out urgently. "Andy, we've gotta get back inside now!"

"Shit!" he heard Andy swear. A moment later, both he and Danielle emerged from wherever they had gone, Danielle grabbing her jacket pocket where she had stored the knife she'd found earlier, and Andy struggling to do up the button on his jeans.

Sam grabbed Danielle's free hand and turned to run back to the safe room when he saw the demonic smoke zoom into said room through the space where the closed window met the frame. "No," he whispered, gripping the poker in his hand even tighter when he heard Jake cry out in obvious pain.

"Sam —" Danielle said, but he pulled her over to the building and up the stairs as Jake kept yelling, Andy scrambling to keep up. Sam burst into the room —

It was too late. The Acheri had caused too much damage to the tall soldier for him to survive, and it had already fled the scene. That was when Sam saw the salt line on the windowsill was broken.

"What?" he whispered, running forward and fixing it before turning around. "How'd that happen?"

Jake gasped and Sam watched as Danielle dropped to her knees beside him. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "Oh, God…" She looked up at Sam. "Can't we do anything for him?"

Sam closed his eyes and shook his head. He couldn't look at the expression on Andy's face as he finally reached the top of the stairs.

"Jake, what happened?" Danielle asked quietly. "How'd it get in?"

"It — the salt…" Jake coughed wetly. "Salt line was broken."

Sam watched as Danielle's mouth fell open, his heart clenching. "Someone _moved_ the salt?" she asked incredulously.

"Didn't see how —" Jake cut off, coughing once more. "Demon was… was _fast_, you know? Couldn't react fast enough…" The coughing started once more, and Sam was unable to do anything but watch as Jake died.

Then Andy let out a scream, and Sam cursed himself for being distracted and not realizing that Andy hadn't crossed the doorway and into safety. He shoved past a shocked-looking Danielle, but Andy was tumbling down the stairs, the Acheri screeching and the small man still screaming before suddenly going silent.

"Stay here!" Sam shouted at Danielle as he ran down the stairs, letting the iron poker in his hands swing out once more. The Acheri was forced to flee again, but the damage had already been done.

Sam stared down at Andy, silently taking in his snapped neck and the gashes that ran deeply down his back. "Sam?" Danielle called down the stairs. "Is Andy —?"

"No," Sam said hoarsely. "Neck snapped during his fall."

Just like that, the number of special children dropped to two.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	5. Chapter Five: Easy to Fall

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Five: Easy to Fall**

**Another chapter? Whoa! I couldn't leave you with that cliffhanger forever, so I thought I'd give you another one! Anyway, there's another death headed your way, so read on and enjoy. Or cry. Whatever suits you best.**

* * *

><p><strong>April 23, 2007<strong>

It got easier after that first night. Too easy. In fact, Ava stopped flinching, stopped throwing up the contents of her stomach, stopped caring.

There was only the game.

There were typically three people in a group, sometimes four. Ava would play dumb, blending in, and then she'd strike. Some people were taken out in the forest, others while sleeping. She usually used the little demon-girl as her weapon, but occasionally she'd take a knife to someone's throat or throw another out of a window, using her telekinesis to make sure they were properly speared on wooden stakes she learned to make herself.

It was kinda fun.

During that time, Ava was provided with food and clothing by a little demon named Nix. He didn't like her much, but he always brought her whatever she asked for without question. Sometimes Ava was satisfied with regular fast food, but other times she demanded expensive plates from fancy restaurants she'd only ever read about.

The only downside was the lack of proper resources in the stupid ghost town, like bathrooms and running water. Ava never knew where she was, but honestly? She could care less, just so long as there was yet another batch of special children for her to kill.

It was only in the darkest of nights that Ava remembered Brady, let alone Sam or Dean.

When Ava woke up on a dreary spring day, she sensed there was one other person in the town with her, and only the one. How odd. Shrugging to herself, Ava made her way over to a walkway to place herself on so she could start her game of cat-and-mouse once more.

The only thing was, nothing went according to plan.

"Hello?" called the other person, and Ava knew it was a girl. She'd woken up faster than anticipated, but it was no matter. Ava was still in control.

"Who's there?" she yelled back in a demanding, but panicked-sounding voice. She tilted her head to one side as a girl around her height stepped into view. "My name's Ava."

"Ava?" the other girl said, frowning. "I've heard that name before."

That was different. Ava frowned, too.

"You're not Ava Wilson, are you?" asked the girl, and Ava was startled.

"Yeah," she managed after a moment. "Do I know you?"

"We never met," the girl said, slowly taking a few steps forward and looking wary. "But I know Sam Winchester and his brother, Dean."

A friend of Sam and Dean? Ava made a mental note to tread more carefully around this girl. None of the other special children had ever mentioned those names over the last however long she'd been here, and it set her on edge.

"Sam and Dean?" Ava said, forcing herself to smile. "Yeah, I know them. Good guys."

"Yeah," the girl said, "they are."

There was a moment of silence.

"You never said your name," Ava pointed out, trying to stay casual.

"It's Danielle," the girl said. "You know you've been missing for about five months now?"

Ava frowned. "What? It's November."

Danielle raised her eyebrows. "It's April," she replied coolly. "Sam said you went missing a few days after Thanksgiving."

Ava suddenly noticed that Danielle had yet to come any closer. "I swear it's November," Ava insisted, stepping forward on her own. "I was cooking dinner for my fiancé last night when there was this smell like —"

"Like rotten eggs," Danielle cut her off. "Yeah, me too, but for you? That was in November." She paused. "Why are you lying to me?"

"What?" Ava said, feeling a flare of panic. "What are you talking about?"

Danielle sighed and gave Ava an annoyed look. "I'm an Empath," she said. "I can read other's emotions like pages from a book, and you're lying to me."

Ava stared, unsure of what to say.

"No one else has been able to do that in the last five months, am I right?" Danielle asked. "I mean, Sam's friend Ash has been tracking disappearances, and every last person who was identified as a special child like us never shared my ability, and never came back home." Her hazel eyes narrowed in the hazy morning light. "You killed them all."

Ava spluttered. "What? I would _never_ —!"

Danielle gave a humorless smile, but remained silent.

After a moment, Ava narrowed her eyes and took a step closer, reaching out with her mind to gauge Danielle's emotions. The only problem was that she hit a wall of nothingness. "What the —?"

"I'm the only natural Empath," Danielle explained in a calm voice. "You only got it by accepting Azazel's plans, and Sam only has it because of the things he's suffered through. No one is better skilled at reading and _blocking_ emotions than I."

Ava stared at Danielle and realized she had to end things now. "Azazel only needs one of us to live," she snapped at Danielle, "and I'm the heavy-weight champion. You've got talent, but I'm not gonna lose to a flat-chested bitch who plays lie detector!" Focusing, Ava raised her hands to her temples and called out for her little girl-shaped demon to come and play.

Danielle gave Ava an outraged look and snarled, "I am _not_ flat-chested!" Then she was turning and running.

"Running won't save you!" Ava called out with a dark laugh as her little demon approached, childish laughter echoing ominously. "I control demons now, and this one's gonna gut you just like everyone else that has shown up!"

Danielle ducked into one of the buildings. Not even a minute later, the black smoke of Ava's demon came zooming into the town and shot into the building Danielle had entered. Ava stepped back, dropping her concentration so she could listen to Danielle's sweet screams as she died a horrible death, just like so many of the others who had been sent to this place.

Only, there were no screams. Instead, Ava was stunned to see her little demon retreating, zooming away fast enough to escape a speeding bullet. A moment later, Danielle stepped back outside, an iron poker from a fireplace clutched in her hands and a fierce expression on her pale face.

"You want me dead?" she challenged. "You come and rip my throat out _yourself_, bitch!"

Oh, it was on now. Ava let out a gutteral scream and ran forward, using her telekinesis to rip the poker from Danielle's grasp. However, Danielle not only held onto the poker, but she allowed herself to go flying forward with the tip pointed directly at Ava's chest.

She was unable to react to it in time.

The poker stabbed right through her chest, blood pumping out from the wound instantly. Gasping in pain and fighting to breathe, Ava dropped to the ground, her blood soaking Danielle's hands. She looked up at the other girl and saw the horror in her eyes, along with the resigned acceptance.

"I'm sorry," Danielle whispered, "but I've got to save you and everyone else from what's coming."

Ava choked on her own blood as she tried to speak.

"Shh," Danielle said soothingly. "It's okay, Ava. You can rest now, it's over."

Ava's vision started to fade even as she clung to life.

"I'm so sorry," Danielle whispered once more, and then Ava was gone.

Danielle watched silently as the life left Ava's blue eyes before she rose and stepped away. "I'm so, _so_ sorry," she said softly, unable to look at the blood on her hands.

About an hour later, the little demon named Nix came to clean everything up once again. After that, Danielle Young was alone.

Two days later, she found Sam.

* * *

><p><strong>April 25, 2007<strong>

It was late when Dean and Bobby reached the end of the line. The road to Cold Oak was blocked off by fallen trees and other debris. "Guess we're gonna have to foot it the rest of the way," Bobby said as Dean slid out of the Impala.

"Great," Dean sighed. "Any idea how long before we reach the town?"

"An hour," Bobby said with a shrug. "I don't think it'll take too long. C'mon." He pulled on his backpack of medical supplies and Dean packed some sandwiches and bottled water in the spare duffel bag they normally used for carrying weapons before following suit.

_I'm coming, Sammy._

* * *

><p>"We've gotta get outta here," Sam forced himself to speak after he climbed the stairs and stepped back into the small room.<p>

"But the demon —" Danielle started.

"We've gotta risk it," Sam said, running a hand through his hair.

"No," Danielle said, "you don't understand." She stared up at Sam with a sad expression. "I can't control it all that well."

Sam blinked, not sure he'd heard right. "What?"

Danielle sighed. "It was only supposed to go after Jake earlier," she said, "but Andy just…" She trailed off and squeezed his eyes shut. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that. It wasn't supposed to kill Andy, not yet!"

Sam stared at Danielle, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"You killed them?" he whispered, sinking onto the nearest chair and staring at Danielle with wide eyes.

Danielle swallowed hard. "I showed up here two days ago," she said. "Ava was here. I recognized her name from talking with you." She slowly moved over to the chair Jake had been occupying earlier. "She had access to tons of abilities, including empathy, but she didn't know how to control it, so I knew she was lying to me from the get-go. I guess you could say that I was her pre-test before you, and she…" Danielle sighed and dropped her head against the wall for a moment. "She failed. Obviously, since I'm the one here in this position."

"You killed her?" Sam asked softly.

"She sent that Acheri after me," Danielle answered quietly, "but I found that poker there and sent it packing. Then I told Ava she was gonna have to kill me herself, and she tried to take the poker from me using telekinesis, but I —" She broke off and scrubbed at her face hard. "I held on," she said, "I don't know how, but then the poker had just… _stabbed_ her straight through and she was _dying_..." Danielle lowered her hands and looked at Sam. "Ava told me that Azazel only needs one of us, and right now, that Acheri will make sure it's me that lives because it's under my control."

Sam stared at Danielle in disbelief. He had trusted her, told her _everything_, had been so damn _sure_ she wouldn't take this path… "How could you?" he whispered.

"With Ava, it was self-preservation," Danielle said. "I never meant to kill her, but she… she called herself the heavy-weight champion, Sam." Her tone turned desperate as though she was trying to justify her actions. "She's the one that killed all the others before me. And the ones today…." She trailed off and looked away.

Sam swallowed. "Can't you call the demon off?"

"I guess," Danielle said with a shrug, "but you know Azazel isn't gonna let us both out of this place."

"I'm not killing you," Sam snapped, "and you — this has got to _stop_, Dani."

Danielle gave him a sad look.

"How did you hide the truth from me?" Sam asked.

"It's a fake construct," Danielle sighed, leaning back in her chair. "It was still all my emotions you sensed, but they were used to hide the real ones I was experiencing. I've been practicing for months," she added with a tiny shrug.

"For months?" Sam echoed. "You mean —?"

"I had reason to believe it was necessary," Danielle answered, "but I never knew how to tell you, and I could tell it worked when you never once suspected that I was doing it the whole time you and Dean were with me back in January."

Sam shook his head. "What gave you the idea to do that?"

Danielle's eyes were sad as she met his. "I don't know," she whispered, shaking her head and looking away.

Neither of them said anything for a very long time. Sam had never once thought they would come to this. He _knew_ Danielle, and this wasn't the kind of thing she would do. Something had changed, but what? What had happened to Danielle? There was something she wasn't telling him, and he knew it could very well be enough to give Azazel the advantage he needed to complete whatever his end game may be.

* * *

><p>Dean tripped over another tree root. "This forest sucks," he said. "I can't believe Sam ended up in a place like this."<p>

"It's not like it was his choice," Bobby said from ahead of him. "You holdin' up okay?"

"I should be askin' _you_ that," Dean shot back with a faint grin. "You're the old one here."

"Not too old to give you a once-over," Bobby muttered with good humor, and Dean's grin grew larger. "You plannin' on actually talkin' to your brother once we find him?"

"Of course," Dean said incredulously as he sidestepped a rotting tree trunk. "It wasn't his fault I was bein' a dick."

Bobby laughed at that. "He'll forgive ya," he observed. "Always does."

"Yeah," Dean said with a grin, "the great girl that he is."

"I bet he could still kick your ass."

"Just because he's got _four_ inches on me doesn't mean he's a better fighter," Dean replied with a huff. "I've got more experience than him. Haven't you noticed how often he ends up getting choked half to death?"

Dean managed to catch Bobby's eye roll in the light cast by their flashlights. "Yeah, I noticed that," Bobby admitted. "Kinda amazes me that he can still talk sometimes with how often it happens."

"Me, too," Dean agreed. "I'm _definitely_ the better fighter."

Bobby chuckled.

Neither man spoke a few minutes after that.

"Do you ever regret those years we never saw you?" Dean suddenly asked.

"What," Bobby said, "you mean when I chased your daddy off my property and threatened to fill his ass with buckshot if I ever saw him again?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "I mean, we spent a lot of time with you and Pastor Jim growing up, and then we went years without a word."

"I always liked having you boys around," Bobby admitted after a moment. "Even back then, I thought of you both as family."

Dean smiled to himself.

"What's with the sudden questions?" Bobby ventured after some time.

"Just —" Dean sighed. "I dunno. I guess I was thinkin' about that time. You know Sam didn't talk to Dad for about a week after you ran him out?"

Both men paused in their hiking and looked at each other. "He did that?" Bobby said, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah," Dean admitted with a shake of his head. "I called him a baby for it, and you know what he told me?"

"What?"

Dean smiled. "He kicked me in the shin, said Dad was the one acting like a baby and then he quit talkin' to _me_ for a week."

Bobby chuckled and shook his head. "Sounds like Sam, all right."

Dean nodded. "How much further do we got?"

"Uh —" Bobby consulted his map and compass. "Not far, another half-mile, I think."

"Awesome," Dean said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"I started having nightmares the day I met you," Danielle said after some length of time. "I barely remembered them at first, but they kept happening every few days."<p>

"What were they about?" Sam asked quietly.

"You," Danielle said. Sam frowned and Danielle went on to say, "It's supposed to be you that wins this, Sam, and then the things you'll have to do…" She shook her head and looked away.

"What d'you mean?"

Danielle's smile was humorless. "Spoilers," she sighed. "But I don't… I don't think I can let you go through all that. You're a better person than I am."

"That's not true —" Sam started, but Danielle gestured to Jake.

"What d'you call this, then?" she said, anger tinting her tone and emotions as she stared at him. "What about Lily? I killed them _all_, Sam, and they did _nothing_ to warrant it. Well," she amended after a moment, "Lily was trying to leave even though we told her not to, but it still applies."

"I don't care," Sam snapped, rising to his feet and glaring down at the short brunette, "you don't have to play Azazel's game, Dani." He gestured out the window, silently thinking of the Acheri. "I _know_ you don't really want to do this."

Danielle's eyes were wet with unshed tears again. "I don't," she whispered. "I never wanted any of it."

"Okay," Sam said, "then we work together on this. Call off that demon and let's get the hell out of here."

They stared at each other a long time before Danielle sniffed and finally nodded. Feeling relieved, Sam guided Danielle out of the room, down the stairs, past Andy's prone form, and out the front door of the building they had taken shelter in.

It was sprinkling lightly when they stepped outside, and Danielle shivered.

"Any idea which way we should go?" she asked quietly.

Sam sighed and looked up at the night sky, disappointed to see too much cloud cover. "There's a lot of nothing in this state," he said, "so I guess we're just gonna have to pick a direction and hope for the best."

"Wait," Danielle suddenly said. "D'you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Sam turned to Danielle and started reaching out with his mind. "The demon's gone," he said. "What are you —?"

And then he felt it.

"It's Dean," he breathed. "Dean and Bobby."

"Your friend Bobby Singer?" Danielle asked, and Sam nodded. "I guess we go that way, then," she said pointing toward the closest end of the town.

"I guess so," Sam said with a smile.

They started in that direction, and a few seconds later, Sam heard it.

"_Sam!"_

"Dean!" Sam shouted back. "Dean, I'm here."

"Sammy!" A moment later, Dean and Bobby emerged from the forest, looking tired, but grinning brightly. "Danielle?"

"Hi," Danielle spoke up.

"Wait, when did she go missing?"

"The night the Djinn had you," Sam said. "I would've told you, but we weren't talking."

"Yeah," Dean said as he and Bobby grew closer. "About that."

Danielle's emotions suddenly changed. "I'm sorry," she whispered, but before Sam had time to process that, pain blossomed across his back, white hot, and the expression on Dean's face went from pleased to horrified in less than a second.

"NO!" Dean shouted, running forward, Bobby just steps behind him, but Sam couldn't focus as he sank to his knees, couldn't think… His back hurt so badly…

* * *

><p>Dean slid to his knees in the mud, just barely catching Sam before he could completely collapse. "No," he gasped, "no no no no no no no!"<p>

He glanced up to see Danielle running away with a bloody knife in her right hand, Bobby chasing after her, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Sam's eyes were rolling, mouth hanging open as he wheezed in air. "Lemme see, lemme see…" Dean pulled Sam close and reached with one hand to the growing stain of blood on the back of Sam's jacket. His hand came away bloody as hell.

"It's not that bad," Dean murmured to Sam, "it's not even that bad, Sammy…" Sam's head flopped against his shoulder and he pulled back, placing his hands on either side of his brother's face and shaking him slightly. "Sam, you gotta stay with me, just focus, you're gonna be fine, and you know why?"

Sam didn't say anything and Dean kept talking, kept rambling, kept hoping.

"It's cause I'm your big brother and it's my job to take care of you, you know?" He pulled Sam close again. "Take care of my pain-in-the-ass little brother… Sam? C'mon, you're just fine, Sammy. Please just talk to me, Sammy, please?"

Dean started rocking without thought, arms wrapped tightly around Sam as he was forced to face a truth he couldn't bare.

He had _promised_ Sam, promised to protect him and now…

_No. No no no!_

He couldn't admit it, it hadn't happened, this wasn't real… and yet, it was.

Sam was dead.

"SAM!" Dean screamed into the night, tears spilling free as he pulled the body in his arms even closer and choked on his own sobs. _"No…"_

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<br>_


	6. Chapter Six: Master of My Soul

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Six: Master of My Soul**

**Guess who should be packing and getting ready to move. *raises hand* I'm so awful at being responsible in real life, sometimes, but I hate leaving cliffhangers like that for way too long, you know? Anyway, this chapter is mostly exposition, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>April 23, 2007<strong>

Five months. Brady Walker sat at his kitchen table, staring blankly into space. Ava had been missing for five months now, and the Winchesters had never once figured out what happened to her or if she was even still alive.

_We were supposed to be safe here,_ he thought to himself repeatedly as the days had passed. _Ava was supposed to be safe. They weren't supposed to touch her._

The idea that the woman he loved was dead wasn't one that Brady wanted to so much as think about, but after five months, he couldn't imagine an alternative. He knew that the average demon rode the people it possessed hard, often leaving them dead when they finally abandoned them. If that had been Ava's fate…

_They weren't supposed to _touch_ her!_ He kept telling himself this one fact over and over. He had to believe that she hadn't been possessed, that she was still alive and out there, fighting for her life, but…

Just then, there came an unfamiliar sound from the backyard. Brady snapped out of his stupor, rising to his feet and quickly making his way to the back door. He peeked outside through the blinds, but it was too dark to see anything, so he flipped on the back porch's light.

There was a body slumped on the ground.

Brady threw open the door and flew down the porch steps. "Ava?" he whispered, pausing as he sank to his knees. That's when he saw the blood staining the clothes of the person before him. After a moment, he reached out and turned the body towards him.

It was Ava. She had been stabbed straight through the chest. She was dead.

Brady wept.

* * *

><p><strong>April 26, 2007<strong>

Sam gasped, eyes darting around.

He was still in Cold Oak.

Dean was still on the ground.

Sam's body was still clutched in his arms.

_Oh, God,_ Sam thought, eyes going wide. _No…_

Sam was dead.

"Hello, Sam."

Sam whirled around and saw a woman with dark hair and blue eyes. She had a gentle smile, but something about her set Sam's nerves on edge.

"Who are you?" he asked warily.

"My name is Tessa," said the woman. "I'm a Reaper."

Realizing he was dead was bad enough, but now he had to move on? A litany of coarse phrases ran through his mind

"A grim reaper," Sam clarified after a moment, and Tessa nodded. "You don't look anything like the one Dean described to me."

"We can choose the form in which we want to appear," Tessa said. "I find many souls respond better to me in this form."

"Oh," Sam said. "Right."

There was a moment of silence.

"I guess you expect me to just… go," Sam said after a moment's hesitation.

"Unless you wish to become a malevolent spirit like the ones you and brother hunt," Tessa answered, "then I would have to say yes."

Sam nodded and looked over at Dean. Bobby was approaching him slowly, seemingly uncertain as to what he should do. Sam looked back at Dean, feeling his heart (metaphorically speaking, of course, and God, how weird was that?) clench at the tears running silently down his brother's face.

"Vengeful spirits are the ones that refuse to move on?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Tessa answered.

"But it takes them at least a year before they gain enough strength to hurt anyone, right?"

Tessa smiled up at him. "You are speaking of Gary Matheson from Provo, Utah, aren't you?"

"Did you try to reap him?"

Tessa shook her head. "We all knew about him, though," she said. "People who spend time around a naturally-developed Empath like your friend Danielle find that their emotions have more strength in death than they normally would."

Sam blinked. "You're saying that Gary was only as strong as he was because he was near Danielle enough —" He broke off suddenly as a horrible thought occurred to him. "Danielle killed me, didn't she?"

Tessa had a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm afraid so."

"But why?" Sam said, turning back to watch as Dean and Bobby slowly lifted his body from the mud and carried him towards the nearest building. He started following them.

"Sam," Tessa called, but he ignored her and headed into the building. He watched in mournful silence as Dean and Bobby laid his still body out on an old bed. His face looked so… peaceful. It was very strange. He couldn't remember ever having that expression on his face in life.

Bobby silently stepped outside, probably to retrieve the bags they had dropped after Danielle's betrayal, and Sam moved closer to Dean, watching the blank expression on his face as his tears dried, leaving salty tear tracks behind.

"Your time is done here," came Tessa's voice from behind him. "It's time to move on."

"How can I?" Sam asked, voice breaking. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "We never even got to resolve our fight earlier."

"I'm sorry," Tessa said softly. "Sometimes you don't get the resolution you want, but it was your time."

"It's not fair," Sam said.

"Life rarely is," Tessa agreed. "You can't stay here, Sam."

Sam ignored Tessa again and continued to watch his brother's face. He couldn't sense his emotions, could barely make any sense of the turmoil in his green eyes.

"Sam —"

"I'm not leaving Dean," Sam snapped, glaring over at Tessa. "I can't. Not yet."

Tessa didn't say anything. There was nothing to be said.

* * *

><p>Danielle ran as fast as she could, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched a bloody knife in one hand and shoved roughly at branches and other debris in her way with the other, boots squelching in the mud every now and again.<p>

She had killed Sam.

But she had saved him, too, right?

_I saved him,_ she told herself harshly as she crashed through the forest. _He doesn't have to do this now because I can do it. I can damn myself and it's okay._

Danielle didn't have the training to hide and evade enemies like Jake probably would have, but that didn't matter. She knew Bobby was getting up there in years, and she was a healthy twenty-three-year-old with dance training and a fantastic amount of stamina. It wouldn't take long to lose him, she was sure of it. She briefly considered reaching out for that demon and having it go after Bobby, but she couldn't do that to him. Killing Sam had been hard enough as it was.

So, she ran.

"I think you've evaded them, by now."

The voice took Danielle by surprise, and she was unable to stop a short scream from escaping as she turned, tripped and landed hard on her backside in an old pile of leaves.

It was Azazel.

Danielle had never actually seen the man/demon/whatever before, but she knew about the yellow eyes. "Holy shit!" she gasped.

Azazel raised his eyebrows. "So you _can_ swear," he remarked. "Whatever happened to my sweet little Mormon girl?"

Danielle just glared at the demon.

Azazel grinned.

"What do you want?" Danielle finally asked. She forced herself to rise and felt grateful that she hadn't injured herself on the knife she was still holding in her bloody hand.

"You're my champion," Azazel said, his grin widening slightly, "so I'm congratulating you."

"Great," Danielle dead-panned. "Thanks, it was _no_ problem whatsoever."

Azazel chuckled. "Of course it wasn't. You only just killed the one man who ever understood your pain completely." He stepped closer. "I gotta say, you weren't the horse I was bettin' on, but you really pulled through at the end, there."

"I didn't do it for you," Danielle said angrily, "if that's what you're thinking."

Azazel raised his eyebrows again. "Why'd you kill little Sammy, then?"

Danielle clenched her jaw. "I _saved_ him," she snapped. "I'm not letting you corrupt him."

"But you'll corrupt yourself and damn your every chance of getting into Heaven?" Azazel frowned thoughtfully. "I guess I can see the logic there."

Danielle's shoulders slumped and she glared at Azazel. "Better me than him."

Azazel eyed Danielle thoughtfully, and she resisted the temptation to read his emotions. She didn't like sensing his demonic presence as it was.

"Interesting," Azazel breathed. "You have so much potential, but you think very little of yourself. When did that happen?"

Danielle looked away. She couldn't answer that question.

"Well, we've got things to do," Azazel suddenly said, voice very business-like.

"What business?" Danielle asked warily.

"The things we're going to do next," Azazel said. "Now, I know you were in Girl Scouts, but can you make your own way outta this place?"

"With a compass? Sure."

Azazel nodded slightly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a compass, which he tossed to Danielle. "Nearest road is five miles north of here," he told her. "Closest town's another twenty miles east from there. Think you can handle that?"

Danielle nodded. "What then?"

"You're taking a road trip to Wyoming," Azazel answered, now handing over a sheet of paper. "Once you get yourself a car, you will follow these directions to your destination, and I'll meet you at that point with further instructions. Is that understood?"

The way he said those last words made Danielle want to start running again and never look back. Sam had been right: Azazel was _terrifying._

"Yeah," Danielle said softly. "I understand." She stared up at Azazel for a moment. "Why did you send me to Cold Oak on my own two days before Sam and the others?"

Azazel smiled. "You were Ava's pre-test," he said, "but surely you've already figured that out."

Danielle swallowed. "If she couldn't get past me with my one ability to call her out on her lies, then how could she hope to get past Sam?"

"I was surprised that you beat her, to be honest," Azazel said with a small grin, "but Ava _was_ getting pretty cocky towards the end, there."

Danielle sighed and shot Azazel an annoyed look.

"I'll see you in Wyoming," Azazel said before vanishing, and Danielle forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Twenty-five miles to civilization. She could do that.

Taking a deep breath, Danielle lifted the compass and began walking.

* * *

><p>Dean sat, staring blankly at Sam.<p>

It was kind of funny, the way he had thought of Sam as being _his_. His, and no one else's. Dean could still remember the amused smile that would cross his mother's face when he proudly told complete strangers that the little baby Mary was holding was "my Sam". Even then, he had cared.

Dean cared so damn much.

Bobby left Dean in Cold Oak for a few hours, returning sometime after the sun rose with food. "Dean, you need to eat," he said, setting a bucket of fried chicken on an old, wooden table.

Dean grabbed the whiskey, instead. "I'm not hungry."

It was hard to miss the sorrowful look on Bobby's face, but Dean did his best to ignore it.

"Don't you think it's ah… that it's time to bury Sam?"

"No."

"Dean —"

"You gonna suggest we torch his corpse, instead?" Dean asked sharply, finally looking at Bobby as he clutched the bottle of whiskey more tightly in his hand. "No." He shook his head. "Not… not yet."

Bobby sighed as he stared back at Dean. "I want you to come with me," he said after a moment's silence.

Dean shook his head again. "I'm not goin' anywhere."

"Dean, please."

"Would you cut me some fucking slack?" Dean snapped, slamming the bottle of whiskey onto the table and making Bobby jump.

"I just — I don't think you should be alone right now," Bobby said, voice tinged with sadness. "And I…" The older man took a deep breath before admitting, "I could really use your help."

Dean scoffed, let go of the bottle of whiskey and turned away, avoiding Sam's body and focusing on a rickety dresser, instead. Anything to keep himself from blowing up even more than he already had.

"Somethin' big is goin' down," Bobby continued after a moment, moving around the table to stand closer to Dean. "End-of-the-world big."

Dean couldn't stop himself. "Well, then let it end!" he shouted, spinning back to look at Bobby.

The two men stared at each other for a long moment, the silence hanging heavy between them.

"You don't mean that," Bobby said quietly.

"You don't think so?" Dean asked angrily. "Huh? You don't think I've given enough?" He gestured to Sam's body. "You don't think I've _paid_ enough?" He shook his head. "I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, turn around, and get the hell out of here." Bobby didn't move. "Go!"

Bobby just gave Dean this sad look and Dean couldn't take it, anymore. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" he roared, shoving Bobby hard enough that he stumbled into the table. Bobby stared at him as though he had never seen him before.

Well, maybe he hadn't.

Remorse instantly flooded Dean at the thought and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he choked out. "Just — just go."

Bobby let out a sigh and nodded. "You know where to find me," he said quietly, and with that, he turned and left the room.

Dean turned back to look at Sam and felt a tear slip free. "Sam…" he whispered, and he swiped angrily at his face. He had nothing left, now.

* * *

><p>Sam stood on the other side of his body, watching as Dean wiped harshly at the tears that had escaped and turned back to the table, snagging the bottle of whiskey again and taking a long pull.<p>

"I've never seen him like that," he breathed to Tessa, who had been quietly standing beside him for the last several hours as he had watched his older brother. "I mean, he was angry when our dad died, but nothing like this."

"People deal with grief in different ways," Tessa said, voice gentle. "And some deaths affect your kind more than others. I would say Dean cares a great deal about you."

"He's my big brother," Sam said, voice wobbling slightly. "He's always watched out for me, you know?" Tessa nodded silently. "I don't know how to leave him," he admitted after a moment. "I know I'm supposed to, but it hasn't even been a year since Dad died and he's —" Sam dropped his head into his hands. "I can't leave him, Tessa."

"You have to," Tessa said gently, leaning forward slightly to try and catch his eye. "Your time here is done, Sam. Your part in the battle's over."

Sam swallowed. "Can I — I want to stay until he… buries me or whatever. I have to see that he'll get back up and help Bobby stop Azazel." He looked down at Tessa.

"I don't recommend it," Tessa said slowly, "but I can't make you do anything until you're ready."

"I'm not ready," Sam said, looking back at Dean as he continued to drain his bottle of whiskey. "Not yet."

* * *

><p>The nearest town was called Redfield. Danielle figured she was lucky to find a place with a gas station and pay phone as she approached it, shivering from the rain and wind. It turned out that South Dakota was a very windy place once she escaped the cover of trees that had surrounded Cold Oak, and Danielle was pretty sure she'd be lucky not to get a cold after that long walk, even if the rain had at least managed to wash the blood from her hands. The biggest stroke of luck was that she had happened to be carrying her wallet on her person when she'd been kidnapped, so it was relatively easy to change some money into enough quarters to make a call.<p>

"Hello?"

"Hey," Danielle said, "it's me, Dani."

"Dani?" Roxy breathed. "But, you went missing over three days ago! Where are you? What happened?"

"Demons," Danielle answered sadly. "I only just got away."

"Where are you?"

"South Dakota," Danielle said dryly. "The place is devoid of life for miles."

Roxy chuckled, but it sounded forced.

"Listen," Danielle hurried on, "I was wondering if you called in the police after I went missing?"

"I did," Roxy said. "Sam told me to."

"So then they'd be tracking my debit cards, right?"

"I think so," Roxy said. "Why?"

"I'm in a little town called Redfield," Danielle sighed, "and I need to get to Wyoming."

"Wyoming?" Roxy sounded confused. "What about coming back home?"

"I can't," Danielle said, "not yet."

"But Dani —"

"I need a favor," Danielle cut her best friend off.

"Anything," Roxy said instantly.

"Call my family and tell them I'm alive?"

"Why can't you call them?"

Danielle closed her eyes and tried to think of something she could say that wasn't the truth. "It's complicated," she finally said to Roxy.

"Dani —"

"Please," Danielle said as earnestly as she could manage. "I don't know when I can come home, but for now, I'm still alive, okay? Just… tell them that."

Roxy sighed over the line. "Okay," she said, voice choked with emotion. "You promise you'll tell me what's going on later? When you're back home?"

"Of course," Danielle said, her voice almost catching on the words. She hung up and pressed her lips together before scrubbing at her face and walking away. After killing Sam, not telling Roxy everything was among the most difficult things she'd ever done. As she headed for a house with several cars on its premises, she told herself to buck up and stay strong. There was so much more that still needed to be done, and she needed to stay strong enough to see herself through it.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	7. Chapter Seven: Defining Moment

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Seven: Defining Moment**

**Four days ago, my two-year-old nephew fell in a river and had to be life-flighted to a hospital; I finished this chapter while waiting to hear news on his condition. Three days ago, he was declared braindead, his organs donated to help save lives and then he taken off life support. Two days ago my husband and I packed up and moved back home. Yesterday was spent with family, planning out the upcoming funeral. This is the first time I've been able to sit down at my computer in the midst of all this. I don't know when I'll post the next chapter. I am only one member of a grieving family suffering the loss of a sweet and compassionate child, and as such my priorities have shifted. I can promise that neither this story nor the AU in which is exists will be abandoned. I thank you all for reading, for your reviews, and for your patience. The moment you've been waiting for has finally arrived.**

**Also, Dean's monologue from 2.22 AHBL part 2 was pretty much copied and pasted into this chapter. It was too well written for me to even attempt to try anything else, but everything else is basically me.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"… <em>missing persons have been turning up outside their original homes all across the US,"<em> said the reporter on the TV as Bobby sat at his desk, a large map spread out before him. _"All the age of twenty-three, and all apparently born in either May or June of 1983, each have been killed in various, gruesome ways. Some appear to have been dead for at least five months, while others range as recent as maybe a few days old. No one has any idea who could have kidnapped them, let alone killed them or returned their bodies."_

Bobby sighed and scrubbed at his face as he listened to the breaking newscast. All these returned bodies were special children like Sam and Danielle, they were all dead, and Bobby didn't even know _why_. Why had that girl killed Sam? He knew that the boys had come to trust her over the last few months and had likely told her many things not a whole lot of people were entrusted with.

Nothing made any sense.

To add to that, demonic activity was suddenly on the rise again, and it was like nothing Bobby had ever seen before. It'd been strange enough when possessions started happening more and more often the year before, but now, it seemed there were dozens of them out there, and they all seemed to be heading somewhere. The question was, what was coming? Bobby was man enough to admit he was scared of what the future might hold.

Of course, if he'd known what was coming, then maybe he wouldn't have left Dean alone.

* * *

><p>Danielle had a lot of time to think.<p>

She had taken a random, beat-up old car with a broken radio from that overcrowded lawn in Redfield, so she only had her own thoughts to entertain herself as she made her way across the state of South Dakota. As she drove, her mind considered the things she had done as well as the uncertainties that lay before her. The primary thought on her mind, as had been the case since the end of October, however, was Sam.

_Even dead, I can't stop thinking about him,_ Danielle thought ruefully. She felt like a wretch for killing him, but she kept telling herself it was what she had to do. Sam didn't deserve everything that had happened to him, and yeah, Danielle didn't deserve anything that had happened to her, either, but someone had to make the sacrifice, and Danielle had to believe that it should be her making it.

The only wildcard would be Dean.

Danielle had studied Dean's emotions closely during that month she had spent with both him and Sam back home in Provo. She knew he suffered a lot of guilt, knew that he was so tired of everything, knew he believed Sam might be better off without him, no matter what she or Sam told him over and over.

John Winchester had made a Deal with a demon and damned his soul to Hell rather than let Azazel kill his sons. Sam had stood back and let a woman control a Grim Reaper to save Dean's life. The demon Dean had bargained with to save some stranger had tried to get him to make a Deal to bring John back from the dead, and Danielle knew the only reason he hadn't done it was because he knew neither John nor Sam would want him to.

The question, Danielle decided, was would Dean try to Deal for Sam's life now that he couldn't stop him?

She knew almost instantly that the answer was going to be 'yes'.

"I should've thought of that," she whispered as she drove over the rolling hills of South Dakota's prairie wasteland. And then she knew what her future was.

Sam was going to come back to life, and he was going to kill her and end the world, anyway. "Was this what you always wanted?" she suddenly shouted, startled by how rough and emotion-filled her voice was. "Do you _want_ Sam Winchester to end the world? What's the point of it all? Why did I even try?"

The tears started and Danielle had to pull over to the side of the road, barely managing to put the car into 'park' before giving into her grief. There was no one to hear her, and no one to comfort her.

Danielle had never felt so alone as she silently prayed for answers.

"Do you want the truth?"

Danielle gasped and raised her head, surprised to see the strange man she had spoken to five months earlier sitting in the passenger seat.

"Who are you?" she whispered, feeling a little scared. "Are you an angel?"

"I am," the man said quietly. "My name is Zachariah."

Danielle swallowed and wiped away her tears. "Why do you want the world to end?" she asked.

"We don't," Zachariah answered calmly, leaning back in the passenger seat and staring out the windshield. "We're simply making sure everything happens as it should."

"As it should," Danielle echoed. "Where's this all going? The Apocalypse?"

Zachariah nodded. "Once Lucifer and Michael have fought the final battle and Michael wins, there will be paradise on Earth. No more destroying that which God created _for_ you humans, and no more abominations with demon blood in their veins."

"Nice to know you think so highly of me," Danielle said dryly, her fear taking a back seat for the moment. "Why here? Why now?"

Zachariah smiled, and Danielle resisted the urge to jump out of the car and run for her life. "Because God commands it."

Danielle felt her mouth fall open. "I don't believe that," she said.

"Then why do you exist?" Zachariah asked. "If God actually cared about his creations, wouldn't he stop abominations like yourself before any of you could do the things you've done already?"

"God gave humanity _free will_," Danielle snapped. "And I haven't done anything besides killing off other 'abominations' like me. More importantly, why do you guys even _need_ an 'abomination' to end the world?"

Zachariah chuckled and Danielle had to force herself to sit still.

"A vessel," he finally said. "All angels need vessels to inhabit while walking the Earth."

"Wait," Danielle said. "You're _possessing_ some poor man?"

"With his permission," Zachariah said like it hardly mattered. "Otherwise, your eyes would be burned out by my true visage."

"Permission," Danielle repeated faintly. "Right. So, who is Sam supposed to be the vessel of, then?"

"Can't you guess?" Zachariah asked. "I know your religion doesn't teach things exactly the way they are in reality, but surely you know of how Hell came to exist?"

Danielle swallowed hard. "Lucifer was cast out of Heaven," she said softly, "thrust down into the Pit itself." She closed her eyes for a moment. "You mean to give Lucifer a body. Sam's body. And Sam's supposed to just… let him in."

"Yes," Zachariah said. "Very good."

"Sam would never say 'yes'," Danielle told Zachariah. "I told you before, he's a good man."

"He's another abomination," Zachariah sneered, "just like yourself."

Danielle clenched her jaw, but bit back on her retort. "But why Sam?" she asked instead.

"Bloodlines," Zachariah answered. "You see," he said, leaning forward slightly and gesturing with his hands, "Azazel wasn't just going around making random Deals with random women. He was searching out ancestry, as well. All the children he fed demon's blood to have the potential to be Lucifer's vessel, but the Winchester's line is the best, right on down from Cain and Abel, as a matter of fact."

Danielle stewed over that morsel of information for a few minutes. "Dean's going to make a Deal to bring Sam back, isn't he?" she finally asked.

Zachariah nodded.

"If Sam's supposed to be the last one standing," Danielle continued, "then that means he's going to have to kill me." She took a deep breath. "You meant for me to put him on the right path for your purposes, didn't you? That's why I had those dreams, why you followed me at work for two weeks."

"Azazel changed the world the moment he took Sam Winchester from his father and brother," Zachariah said with a small shrug. "If he hadn't done that, you and Sam never would have met. You weren't meant to be important, Danielle, but the pathway was changed, and we had to adjust accordingly." He smiled again. "In the end, we'll get what we want. We just need _you_ to ensure that it happens. You, Danielle Elizabeth Young, will set the world right, get us back on course for the end of days."

"What happens if I don't?" Danielle asked. "What happens if I tell Sam and Dean everything you've told me and we all just walk off the chessboard?"

Zachariah stared at Danielle for a long moment, and suddenly she found her ability to breathe slowly being cut off. She gasped, scrabbling at her neck, wheezing desperately for air.

"We are more powerful than you could ever hope to be," Zachariah told Danielle as she choked. "If it hadn't been for Azazel's abrupt change in plans, then I wouldn't even have a _need_ to be down here. I'm upper management, Danielle," he continued, voice growing louder and louder. "I shouldn't even have to do _any_ of this! Do you know how _frustrating_ things are when your timeline gets screwed up because one stupid demon couldn't follow his own plan to the letter?"

Danielle couldn't breathe anymore, and she turned wide eyes to the angel, silently pleading for him to stop. Zachariah shot her a grin and suddenly air flooded her lungs. She gasped loudly, flopping against her seat and squeezing her eyes shut as she waited for the dizziness associated with choking to leave.

"You are exactly what we need, Danielle," Zachariah told her, voice suddenly much quieter. It was disturbing how quickly his moods changed, even more so because she couldn't really make sense of them. "You're a talented actress from what I've heard, and with the things you can do, you can make sure that Sam plays his role the way _destiny_ dictates he should." He leaned close and Danielle had to fight the urge to recoil. "Do we have an understanding?" the angel asked softly, his voice cold.

Everyone was threatening her at every turn, and Danielle hated it. But then, she wasn't capable of taking on an angel, and without that gun Sam and Dean had told her about, she couldn't even kill Azazel. For all her abilities, Danielle finally understood that she was powerless.

"Why Sam?" she finally asked. "Why the perfect bloodline?"

"Because Michael and Lucifer are brothers," Zachariah said. "We need two brothers."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. "Wait, Sam _and_ Dean? But Dean's gonna go to Hell once he makes that Deal!"

"I am an angel, am I not?" Zachariah grinned. "Now, do we have an understanding?"

Danielle stared at the angel for a long moment before finally nodding. "We do."

"Then your path to Heaven is assured," Zachariah said, tone suddenly much lighter than it had ever been. "Do this right, and you'll even get to be with your Jared again."

Danielle blinked her eyes hard, hating the tears that escaped. "You promise?" she whispered, looking up at Zachariah. The angel's smile was much gentler this time, and while Danielle was even more freaked out by it on one level, she also found it oddly comforted by it, as well. It didn't make sense.

"We all have our roles to play," he told her, "and this is yours. God has already forgiven your sins."

Danielle was so scared to trust, but she was even _more_ scared to not follow orders from an angel of the Lord. "Thank you," she said at last. Zachariah nodded and vanished, the sound of flapping wings fading into silence.

There were many more tears shed before Danielle rallied the strength to carry on. She could do this, _had_ to do this. She would give the angels what they wanted, what God wanted, even if she hated it.

She could only hope that someday, Sam would understand.

* * *

><p>Dean drank most of the whiskey Bobby had left him as he stared over at his little brother's body. Sam watched him, face equally morose as he stood on the other side of the room.<p>

"I'm not sure I know how to move on," he remarked aloud. "I've been a part of this fight for so long…"

"It's no longer your burden to carry," Tessa told him gently. "The war is over for you."

"Yeah, but… I don't want it to be," Sam admitted after a long moment. "I never asked for anything that happened to me, but I don't know how to step back. I tried before." He glanced down at Tessa. "It didn't work out."

"I'm aware," Tessa said.

"So how am I supposed to just step back now?" Sam asked. "Do you know that Dean's biggest fear is being left alone? I…" He trailed off and ran a hand through his hair. "I _swore_ I wouldn't do that to him. Not again."

"We can't always keep our promises," Tessa pointed out.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut. "I know," he said softly. "It makes it hurt even more."

Tessa didn't reply and silence fell over the room once more.

"You know," Dean suddenly said, voice rough and low enough that Sam had to move closer to hear it, "when we were little — you couldn't been more than five — you just started asking questions." He smiled slightly. "How come we didn't have a mom, why do we always have to move around, where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time… I remember I begged you, 'Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't wanna know.'" He chuckled softly and Sam swallowed hard at the emotions on his brother's face.

"I just wanted you to be a kid," Dean sighed. "Just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you… Keep you safe…" He closed his eyes briefly before continuing. "Dad didn't even need to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job… I had one job —" His voice broke and two tears escaped. "And I screwed it up. I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry."

Dean wiped away the tears and Sam swallowed heavily. "I guess that's what I do," he continued after a moment. "I let down the people I love. I let Dad down. And now I guess I'm just supposed to let you down, too."

Sam froze. This wasn't going in the direction he thought it was, it couldn't. "How can I?" Dean said. "How am I supposed to live with that? What am I supposed to do, Sammy? God." Dean sniffed and dropped his head for a moment. "What am I supposed to do?" He slowly stood, still staring down at Sam's lifeless body. "What am I supposed to _do_?" he shouted to a room he believed to be empty.

And Sam knew. He knew _exactly_ what it was that his big brother was going to do. "No," he whispered, "Dean, you can't." Dean stared down at Sam's body for another moment before turning and walking away, out of the building and in the direction he and Bobby had first come from. "You can't!" Sam shouted, running after him, even though he knew Dean couldn't hear him, had no idea he hadn't moved on.

"Sam —" Tessa called.

"He's going to make a Deal," Sam snapped, turning to face the Reaper. "He's gonna make a Deal with a demon and _bring me back_, Tessa."

Tessa had been walking towards him, but at his words she stopped. "He's not supposed to do that," she whispered, staring wide-eyed after Dean as he vanished into the surrounding forest.

"Can't you stop him?" Sam asked desperately. "Can't I?"

Tessa didn't say anything and Sam felt like the world had fallen out from under his feet. Again. "Crossing over wouldn't stop him, would it?"

"No," Tessa sighed. "It wouldn't."

Sam turned back to the forest. "I can't follow him that far away…"

"I'm sorry," Tessa said, coming to stand beside him. "I guess your part isn't over, after all."

Sam closed his eyes and suddenly found he wished it were.

* * *

><p>It took Dean too long to find the nearest crossroads. He slammed the Impala to a stop, not even apologizing for the abuse, and ripped the keys from the ignition before forcefully pushing himself out of the driver's seat. His strides were long as he went to the Impala's trunk, almost ripping the thing open in his haste to grab the things he needed. Less than a minute later, the small metal box in his hands was filled and he strode right to the middle of the intersecting dirt roads.<p>

The hole he dug with his hands was just deep enough for the box to fit, and he quickly covered it before rising and looking around. There was no one there.

"C'mon," he muttered, knowing that he was right on the edge of a breakdown. "C'mon… Show your face, you bitch!"

"Careful honey, you'll wake the neighbors." The demon was, once again, wearing a pale-faced girl with dark hair and pale blue eyes, but this body had more curves. "Hello, Dean. It is _so_ good to see you again."

Dean glared at the demon's smile.

"I mean it," she told him. "Look at you. Last time we spoke, you were so determined to save the life of a man you didn't even know, and now baby brother's just as dead as Daddy, and you're all alone in the world." She gave him a sultry smile and turned away, breathing deeply and looking around with a rather pleased expression on her face.

Dean felt his throat tighten in frustration and other things he hated to name. "I should send you straight back to Hell," he ground out.

The Crossroads Demon grinned at him from over her shoulder. "You should," she said, finally turning to face him again, "but you won't. And I know why."

"Oh yeah?"

Grin widening, the demon moved a little closer to him. "Yeah," she breathed. "You're wanting to follow in Daddy's footsteps, only without all that pressure and torture." She took a deep breath and kept right on smiling. "You, Dean Winchester, want to make a Deal, bring little Sammy back to life and — lemme guess — you're offering up your own soul."

Dean had been tense from the moment the demon had shown up, and now he clenched his jaw in anger. He hated demons. He hated how they acted, everything they did, and yet, here he was. "I bet there's tons of demons who wanna get their hands on it," he said, "but it'd be all yours. Just bring Sammy back and give me ten years."

There was a pause, and then the demon started laughing. "You're joking, right?"

Dean's insides froze. "That's the same Deal you give everybody else," he said, mouth dry. He struggled to swallow as he stared down at the pale woman before him. "And you offered before —"

"But you're not just anybody," the demon told him with raised eyebrows, "and neither was your daddy. He only got three days, sugar. Why would I give you ten years when you already turned me down once?"

Dean squeezed his eyes shut. "You saying I'd only get three days?"

The demon moved close and Dean automatically took a step back. "I'm saying that, well…" She grinned again. "There's no Deal you can make." She turned to walk away. "You can keep your gutter soul," she called over her shoulder.

"Wait!" Dean shouted before he could stop himself. "Azazel said he wants me down there, doesn't he?"

The lithe figure slowed to a halt, and then the demon was turning to face him again. "You won't even give me three days?" Dean asked.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Things were different back then," the demon told him, but she slowly moved closer once more. "Azazel's got his prize fighter now, so what would he even _do_ with your little brother?"

"What?"

"I'd say you could ask your brother that question, but…" The demon stared at him for a long moment. "Azazel said he wanted you in Hell, and I gotta say, most people would run screaming in the other direction if they knew something like that, but it was just a threat, Dean. Azazel could twist things to get your father downstairs, but there was nothing he could do for you." She stepped closer. "Are you really that determined to keep your brother alive?"

Dean stared down at the demon without saying anything.

The demon sighed. "I _really_ shouldn't do this," she finally said. "We've got all our ducks in a row and you're wanting to just shake things up."

"Does that mean you'll do it?" he asked.

The demon's smile was light. "Yes," she said. "I'll bring your little brother back to life, and since I'm such a saint, I'll give you exactly _one year_ to live. But lemme tell you right now, you cannot welch or weasel your way out of this or the Deal will be off, and Sammy will be right back to a heap of rotting meat in no time." The demon's grin turned coy. "So, what d'you say?"

Dean thought of Sam, of his dead body, of the look on his face when Danielle stabbed him.

"It's a better Deal than your dad could've ever gotten out of Azazel," the demon whispered as she stepped close enough to touch, eyes flashing red once again.

"_Dean, you have to _save_ your brother from what's coming, and if — if you can't, you might have to kill him."_

If it was the last thing Dean ever did, he was gonna save his brother.

The kiss was brutally hard, but the demon clung to him as though it was the best she'd ever had. Dean pulled away, breathing hard, and the demon gave him a hard grin.

"See you in a year, hon," she said, and then she was gone.

There are defining moments in life that make us who we are and shape the world around us as we know it. This moment was one of them, and there was no turning back.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	8. Chapter Eight: Twisted Every Way

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Eight: Twisted Every Way**

**My nephew's funeral was last Friday. It was a beautiful service. I was asked to sing along with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and my brother-in-law's girlfriend. I also got the chance to share some of my favorite memories of my nephew with those who attended. We released balloons for my nephew at the cemetery, and my husband was one of the pallbearers. I will miss that little boy dearly.**

**Unfortunately, life goes on. My husband returned to work, I got a sinus infection, and my mother-in-law is being sued in civil court for my nephew's death by his mother's side of the family (his parents finally finished their divorce two days ago). The child's death was an accident, pure and simple. Every authority involved agreed on this. I love my mother-in-law as much as I love my own mother. You can look in Utah's news and see that there have been many accidental drownings as the rivers, creeks, streams and lakes have all but overflowed. I don't understand why these things happen, but my mother-in-law does not deserve this.**

**Anyway, with my sinus infection raging along, I finally found time to write. It looks like this story will have a total of ten chapters. I hope you read and enjoy as we got closer to the end of this story.**

* * *

><p><strong>April 27, 2007<strong>

Pain. It almost bordered on complete agony, and Sam wasn't sure how he was supposed to work through it. He wasn't even sure _why_ he hurt so badly.

His lower back felt like it was on fire, almost white-hot, and his head, well… Sam had suffered a few headaches almost debilitating enough to be considered migraines, but this one blew them all out of the water.

Why was he in so much pain?

It took several minutes to force himself into a sitting position, slumped against what felt like a metal headboard as he clutched at his head, breathing hard. Where was he? What the hell was going on?

Several more minutes later, Sam was able to crack his eyes open. He was alone in a room that looked old and abandoned. What was he doing in a place like this?

"_Cold Oak, South Dakota. All the residents fled because they swore the town was haunted."_

"_But there's nothing here."_

Oh. Right. Cold Oak, the location of Azazel's game, where Danielle had…

Sam stopped that train of thought for the moment, instead noticing that the pain in his lower back had faded to a raging throb. He forced himself to his feet and made his way over to an old, full-length mirror, determined to figure out why his back hurt so damn much.

It took a few tries to raise his shirt, due to the continued pain and an unpleasant clenching in his muscles that felt like they were strung too tightly to move properly, but eventually he was able to accomplish what should have been a menial task.

What he saw made him gasp.

The scar tissue was a little under two inches in width (_just like that knife,_ his mind supplied, but he recoiled from _that_ train of thought even more quickly than the last one) and the skin was red enough to suggest it had recently healed. But why —?

"_I'm sorry,"_ Danielle's voice caressed his mind and he dropped his shirt, his fingers returning to his temples as he gasped in pain. Sam sank to his knees, feeling so lost and confused and completely out of whack. What was wrong with him? He tried to focus, get his bearings, do anything to make his brain function properly.

The full-length mirror shattered.

_That can't be good,_ a small part of him thought as he forced himself back over to the bed, collapsing on it and curling into a ball on one side as he ignored the pain in his back for the time being. Why was he still in Cold Oak? Where was Danielle? What had happened to Dean and Bobby?

Dean.

The name suddenly brought up a mess of emotions that Sam wasn't quite sure he'd ever felt before. There were all the normal emotions associated with his older brother's name, plus the new ones that had been added at Azazel's earlier declaration —

"_It's because of your big brother that you're a freak, kid."_

— Sam wanted to stop thinking _right now_, but there was still the confusing mess that told him Dean had done something else, something… something even _worse_.

_Why can't I remember?_

It was like his brain had been run through a cheese grater and he had to fit every last bit back together again. Fantastic.

It took some more time for the worst of his aches and pains to finally fade, and Sam was eventually able to sit up once more. He was massaging his temples when he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. He quickly forced himself to his feet to try and defend himself and nearly fell over.

"Whoa, Sam, easy!"

Sam opened his eyes to find Dean holding him upright. "Dean?"

Dean's smile was genuine as he pulled him into a tight hug that made his aches and pains more noticeable, but he spotted something in the older man's eyes that screamed fear and relief before he was engulfed in his brother's arms. But why —?

_I can't sense his emotions._

The realization was so strange to him that Sam wasn't entirely certain how to process it. What was going on? He squeezed his eyes shut, reaching out and —

_Was so scared but so relieved now you're okay and it's fine that I made my choice because you're alive —_

"Different," Sam blurted without thinking. "Why's it different?"

He opened his eyes to see a perturbed look on Dean's face as he pulled away. "What's different?" he asked. "Sam, are you okay?"

"Have to —" Sam shook his head, suddenly frustrated. Why weren't his brain and mouth cooperating the right way? "Have to work at it. Empathy, it's… it's different."

Dean blinked up at him and said, "Here, why don't you sit down and try saying that again in English."

"It _was_ English," Sam huffed as he was lowered to the bed once more.

"And I'll believe you when I can understand it," Dean told him. There was a moment of silence. "What happened to the mirror?"

"Broke it," Sam said. "Powers are… it's all messed up."

"Your powers are messed up?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded and winced, returning his hands to his head. "Didn't mean to break it… just happened." He looked up at Dean. "What happened to me?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Dean asked him in return, his worry palpable.

Sam racked his brains, trying to remember. "Cold Oak," he said. "Dani said she was sorry," he whispered, "and then… this pain, like, white-hot…" He gestured to his lower back, watching the play of emotions in Dean's eyes. "You started running at me and…" It felt like there should be more, so much more, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember what it was.

He watched Dean visibly swallow as he snagged a chair and dragged over to the side of the bed. "Dani, she —" He broke off and rubbed at his face. "I guess she had a knife, and she stabbed you in the back before running off." Dean's expression turned sad and weary as he met Sam's gaze. "You lost a lot of blood," he admitted next, "and I thought I was gonna…" He blinked hard a few times and looked away.

Something seemed wrong with that statement, but when Sam tried to access his empathy again, he only got an increased headache for his troubles. So, he tried to logic his way through Dean's tale. "Dani had a knife she found," he sighed, "but Dean…" He leaned forward, trying to catch Dean's eye. "That wound… I looked at it, there's no way you or Bobby coulda fixed that."

Dean met his eyes, and Sam suddenly knew what had happened. "You made a Deal," he breathed, and the alarm in his brother's eyes only confirmed it where his abilities could not for the moment. "Dean, I… I died. Dani actually _killed_ me and you went out and did the one thing you weren't supposed to!" His voice was gradually getting louder as he forced himself back to his feet. "Dad told us not to play into Azazel's hands!"

"Sammy —"

"No," Sam cut Dean off. "We _knew_ Azazel wanted both you and Dad in Hell, Dean. We knew it, and you did it, anyway!" He grabbed Dean's arm and dragged him to his feet. "How long did you get, Dean?"

Dean didn't say anything.

"HOW LONG?" Sam practically screamed, the turmoil of his emotions almost too much to bear.

"One year," Dean whispered.

Sam let go of Dean's arm and took a step back, staring at Dean in dismay. He thought he knew his big brother, but he never once thought the older man to be so capable of following in their father's footsteps. It didn't matter that he understood why John had made the choice he had, because he still wished that the man hadn't done it. He wasn't _worthy_ of such sacrifices!

Swallowing hard, Sam turned away and ran his hands through his hair. _Everyone's gonna leave me_, he thought desperately. It was Dean's greatest fear, but now it was going to be Sam's fear to see realized. He had spent his free time after John died researching Demon Deals, and he already knew there was no way out unless he could find the demon that now held Dean's contract and convince them to renege it.

Which wasn't going to happen.

"I can't save you from this," he whispered brokenly, swiping angrily at the tears that had started falling without his permission.

"No," Dean replied softly. "You can't. If I try anything, you drop dead and the Deal's off."

Sam turned to face his brother again. "I'm not worth this," he whispered.

"Yes you are!" Dean said, voice suddenly so fierce and filled with such conviction it left Sam speechless. "I don't care what you say, I would make the same choice _every time_ if I had to!"

Sam looked away and saw the table in the next room was filled with food. His stomach suddenly growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten for more than a day. Dean smiled, but it was a little wobbly and scared.

"Hungry?" he asked. "I'm starving."

Sam had the feeling that Dean hadn't eaten recently, either, so he nodded, swiping at his tears once more and following Dean over to the table. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Dean asked what had happened to Sam before he and Bobby showed up. Sam told him everything, leaving out only one detail from his dream.

Dean didn't need to know that he would one day travel back in time and direct Azazel's attention to their parents. He had enough on his plate as it was, his easy acceptance that his life would be over in a year making Sam's heart clench.

He knew he couldn't save Dean, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try.

* * *

><p>While he knew lying to Sam wouldn't have ever worked, Dean had at least hoped to avoid the topic of how the kid was even <em>alive<em> after what Danielle had done until later. Sadly, that wasn't the case.

"I trusted her," Dean said quietly when Sam finished his story.

"Dean —"

"No, Sam," Dean cut his brother off. "We both trusted her, even though there were worries, and we…" He grabbed a bottle of beer and took a swig from it. "I should've known," he said.

"Should've known that Danielle was having nightmares about me ending the world?" Sam said dubiously. "Danielle spent _months_ as an Empath before I acquired the ability. If there was something she didn't want me to know, then I wouldn't've known it, plain and simple."

"But why wouldn't she tell us something like that?" Dean asked, snagging the last bottle of beer and popping the lid off with the edge of the table. "Having visions in her sleep? We've been down this road, Sammy, we know how that goes!"

Sam stared at Dean sadly. "I don't know why she never said anything," he said, "but she seemed desperate to stop her dreams from happening." He leaned back in his seat and ran a hand through his hair, wincing as though all his muscles were still a little stiff. "This is probably gonna sound bizarre," he said after a moment had passed, "but I got the feeling she wanted to save me from what she thought was a future set in stone, and that was why she…" He trailed off, unable to say it.

"She really thought you were gonna end the world," Dean stated disbelievingly.

Sam shrugged uncomfortably. "She really seemed to think that that was the case," he said. "I dunno, Dean, but she's out there, doing God knows what, and we can't just let her go." He started to heave himself up with a groan.

"Dude," Dean snapped, moving forward to shove Sam back down, "you've only been alive for what? Two hours? Give your body a break!"

"We don't have time, Dean," Sam retorted, pushing Dean's hands away and rising again. "Like it or not, Danielle's gonna do whatever Azazel wants her to do because she thinks she has no other choice! Now are you gonna help me on this or not?"

Dean stared at his little brother, muscles tense and jaw clenched in frustration and anger. This was so like Sam to want to focus on the bigger picture, and Dean knew that this time, he couldn't stop it. "Fine," he sighed, "but we're taking the walk to the car easy, got it? You're still kinda stiff, don't think I didn't notice it."

Sam rolled his eyes, but nodded. They packed up the spare bottles of water and headed out, leaving Cold Oak behind forever.

* * *

><p>Staying up all night to do research wasn't anything new to Bobby Singer, but then, the stakes had never been so high and he didn't even know what was coming. Just then, he heard the unmistakable sound of the Impala pulling up to the house, but that didn't make sense, because Dean had said he was out —<p>

That was when Bobby stepped outside to see both Dean _and_ Sam clamber out of the Impala.

"Sam?" he gasped, eyes wide.

Sam looked up and met his eyes. They were red as though he'd been crying recently, and the smile he gave him didn't reach said eyes.

"I know," he said to Bobby as he walked past him and into the house without sparing a glance at Dean. Bobby turned to Dean just in time to see his shoulders slump.

"What'd you do?" Bobby hissed at Dean as he moved toward him.

"He made a Deal," Sam called over his shoulder before the front door slammed shut.

Bobby shut his eyes tightly for a moment. "Are you idjits trying to kill me?" he asked Dean sharply. "How long'd you get?"

"A year," Dean said softly. Bobby glared at Dean. "I know what you're gonna say," Dean rushed on before he could open his mouth, "and I _know_ that I just did something Azazel had threatened Sam with, I do, but I…" He trailed off and looked away, blinking hard in the late-morning sunlight. "I couldn't let him die, Bobby," he whispered, voice choking up in a way Bobby had never actually heard before. "I couldn't. He's my brother, I had to save him!"

"And how do you think he feels knowing where you're goin', huh?" Bobby reached out and grabbed Dean's shoulders. "There's no way Sam _or_ your daddy wanted you to ever do somethin' like this, no way!"

Dean met his eyes with a defiant stare, eyes shining with the tears Bobby knew the eldest of John's boys would never let loose. "I've had more chances at life than I should've had," he said quietly, but so firmly that Bobby could barely believe it was actually Dean talking. "Sam turned a blind eye when Dad was missin' and my heart was goin' out on me, and Dad —" He broke off and looked away. "I'm just resetting the natural order —"

Bobby had heard enough. He shook Dean hard. "Do you _really _have that low an opinion of yourself? You _matter_, Dean! Both me and Sam care about you. Didn't that Utah girl tell you that Sam depends on you? You, and nobody else! I don't even come close, an' I know it!"

He released Dean's shoulders and stepped back. "You break my heart, kid," he sighed after a moment.

Dean didn't say anything, just stood there and stared at the ground.

Bobby sighed again and headed inside, heading straight for the study and finding Sam at his desk, just like he'd expected. "How'd you figure it out?" he asked him quietly. "I know you keep that empathy thing wrapped up most of the time."

"Everything's a bit messed up right now," Sam sighed after a moment, looking up at Bobby with a world-weary expression. "I shattered a mirror on accident and I had to work at sensing emotions instead of just dropping the shield and letting them in." He looked away and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm still in a lot of pain," he added quietly enough that Bobby had to move closer to hear him, and then he stood, slowly pulling up the back of his shirt for Bobby to see.

The scar where he'd been stabbed was an ugly, twisted mass of scar tissue.

"No way you or Dean could've fixed that," Sam whispered, lowering his shirt.

"You're right," Bobby said. "We'll fix this, Sam. We'll find a way out of this Deal, I promise you."

"I read about Deals after Dad…" Sam took a breath and blinked a few times before continuing. "We have to find the demon that holds his contract and convince it to renege without me dropping dead again." He shrugged after a moment. "Or I could just end it myself —"

"No," Bobby bit out before Sam could say another word. "We are _not_ goin' down that road, Sam."

Sam's eyes were more than damp when he looked at Bobby and he turned away, hands covertly moving up to his face to wipe away his tears. He cleared his throat and turned around once more.

"So," he said, voice rougher than usual, "do we have any idea what Azazel's going to do next?"

Bobby's heart clenched at the desolate, but determined expression on Sam's face and he forced himself to focus. "What happened in Cold Oak?" he asked.

"Turns out that Azazel only needs one of us," Sam said quietly. "A leader for his army, and since Danielle —" He broke off and took another deep breath. "If we can figure out where the most signs of demonic activity are, then we can find both Dani and Azazel."

Bobby nodded and moved over to the desk to gesture to the map of Wyoming. "Here's your activity," he said, gesturing to the southern half of the state. "Couldn't tell you what it means, but it's like they're surrounding one specific area."

"Bobby!" Dean called out, and both Bobby and Sam looked up to see Dean walking into the house with Ellen Harvelle.

"You're alive," Bobby said, straightening.

Ellen nodded, looking almost dead on her feet. Her daughter stepped into the room next.

"It's Mom and I'm me," Jo said, brushing past Dean to face Bobby directly and looking less like a pretty girl and more like a true Hunter. "Dean ran the tests himself."

"Okay," Sam said, suddenly sounding more alert and business-like. "Between the five of us, we should be able to figure out what's going on and put a stop to it."

Bobby looked over at Sam, noting the fierce determination that dominated the exhaustion and pain. Like it or not, they had work to do and the clock was ticking.

* * *

><p>Sunlight was streaming brightly through the motel room window when Danielle finally woke, feeling recharged after her twenty-five mile walk and the three-hour drive down to the interstate. She'd been running on fumes by that point, so she ditched the car and persuaded the lady at the check-in desk of the first motel she saw to give her a room for the night, free of charge.<p>

The mind control thing was very useful, even if the cost to acquire it had been awful.

Danielle slowly sat up, pushing her tangled hair from her face as she got her bearings. She hadn't had any dreams, let alone nightmares, but even though she was physically refreshed, she still felt emotionally drained.

The worst part was knowing what was yet to come.

After taking a shower, Danielle tracked down the nearest diner and bought a simple meal with what remained of her cash. She savored the simple cheeseburger and seasoned fries, almost imagining that they could be her last meal ever. Maybe that was best, she thought idly, starting to feel rather detached about the idea of dying, which could quite possibly happen before the day was even out. She decided that before she headed off into the wastelands of southern Wyoming, she would find herself a McDonald's and enjoy a quarter-pounder with cheese from them one last time. Then she wondered if planning out things for her death might be a little too morbid.

Once her meal was finished, Danielle headed down the street, feeling glad to find a used car lot. It took little effort to get a car handed over with temporary registration and a full tank of gas. Danielle knew the things she was doing weren't good by any stretch of the imagination, but like it or not, she had the ability and a destination that would take far too long to reach on foot.

"Thank you!" she told the car salesmen as she drove away in an old Subaru, heading west down I-90. She figured she had a semi-decent head start, assuming that Sam had come back to life somewhere around midnight…

The radio in this car worked, but unfortunately, a lot of South Dakota was so empty that it didn't pick up many stations, and those that it did were almost too garbled by static to enjoy. Once again, Danielle was left with nothing but her thoughts.

She wondered how many people headed straight for their own deaths, knowing who would kill them and why. It stood to reason that it was a pretty heroic thing to do, but then, Sam wasn't going to know any of the things she knew when they met one last time, so she doubted that he or Dean would see it that way. That was when she got an idea.

Danielle knew the angels had to be watching her every move, but they hadn't said a thing about not telling her family anything. Loopholes, right?

The next big town with both a supply store and post office became Danielle's home for a few hours while she gathered what she needed. The first letter was placed in one envelope, which was mailed off at once. The other envelope had information that was more time-sensitive material in some ways, so she made sure to leave instructions with the post office about when it was to be delivered. After that, she was back in her car and out on the road once more.

Danielle's heart was still heavy with what she had to do, but it also felt as though at least one burden had been lifted. Whatever was coming, she knew now that she would face it head-on with the knowledge that she had done all she could to save the people she cared about, and that it had to be good enough. The rest was up to Sam and Dean.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	9. Chapter Nine: The Race

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Nine: The Race**

**There's one more chapter to go after this. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Dean insisted that Sam take a shower while he, Bobby and the Harvelle's looked over the file Ellen had managed to find in the safety deposit box located where her bar had once stood. "I was supposed to be there when it burned down," she had told Sam and Dean, "but we ran out of pretzels." She looked over at Jo and smiled sadly. "It was just dumb luck, y'know?"<p>

"I'm pretty happy with dumb luck," Jo said firmly, "even if Ash…" She had taken a deep breath and turned away. Dean knew the girl had mixed feelings about her mother surviving while so many other people had died. If she hadn't gotten a flat tire on her way to the Roadhouse after a job over in Montana, she could have easily been another victim, herself. Still, the Harvelle's were alive, and that was the important thing to remember.

Dean stared at the map Ellen had brought with her, forcing himself to focus on the subject at hand. "Samuel Colt built all this?" he asked.

Bobby nodded. "Iron railways connecting five churches with a bone yard in the middle? It's gotta be keepin' something out."

"Or keeping something in," Jo said. "Like a giant Devil's Trap. D'you think that's where this Danielle chick would go?"

"It makes sense," Bobby said. "We know Azazel needs a leader, and we know that right now he thinks it's Danielle who won his game." He scrubbed at his face. "Does Danielle know how to steal cars and the like?"

"We never taught her," Dean answered, still staring down at the map, "but Sam said she had at least partial control of the demon used to kill the other kids with them, so it's likely that she's got the Jedi mind trick, now, too." He looked up at the others. "We need to assume that she's got all the same abilities that Sam has."

He heard the water upstairs cut off and assumed Sam would be back down with them in a few minutes. "Look," he said in a lower voice, "Sam's pretty upset with me right now —"

"What'd you expect?" Ellen asked sarcastically.

Dean glared at her. "Just don't talk about it, okay? We need to focus on Azazel and Dani, and nothin' else."

Ellen and Jo nodded, followed by Bobby a moment later.

When Sam rejoined them (and Dean noticed that he was moving more easily than before), they were planning out which cars to take.

"Me an' Sam'll go in our car," Dean was saying when he spotted said little brother, "an' the rest of you can go in either Bobby or Jo's truck."

"We'll take mine," Bobby said, "but we'd best hurry, this girl's gotta full day's head start on us, at least."

"She wouldn't be in Wyoming, yet," Sam said.

"How are you sure of that?" Ellen asked.

"Because she was running on about three hours' rest and a full day without food or water when she took off," Sam answered with a shrug. "Adrenaline could only get her so far, and judging by the direction she took off in…" He trailed off and pulled out his cell phone, scrolling through his contacts and selecting one.

"Who —?" Jo started to ask, but Dean waved a hand at her.

"Hey, Roxy, it's Sam…" Sam frowned as he listened to whatever Roxy was saying on the line. "When'd she call you? Yesterday? What time? Did she say where she was? Redfield? Okay, what did she say to you? Yes, it's _very_ important, Roxy, she's still in danger…" He listened for a few seconds. "Did you tell her family yet? No? Okay, Rox, I know this is has to be very hard for you, but you've gotta keep quiet a little longer… Okay, thanks. I'll call when I find her, I promise. Yeah, bye." He pressed the 'end' button and closed his eyes for a moment. "Dani called Roxy from a payphone in Redfield yesterday afternoon, telling her that she had to go to Wyoming before she could come home, and asking if Roxy could let her family know she was still alive."

"Redfield in this state?" Bobby asked, already going for his maps.

"Yeah," Sam said, "and Roxy said she sounded completely exhausted. I can't imagine she could have gotten too far since then."

"Why would Azazel make her travel the distance on her own?" asked Jo.

"Proving her worth, I'd imagine," Ellen answered for Sam. "You say she knows how to handle most handguns and was a Girl Scout growin' up, so she's got basic survival skills, at the very least."

Bobby spread out the new map on top of the one of Wyoming. "Redfield's here," he said, pointing to the north-east part of the state. "Chances are, if Azazel gave her directions, they were probably fairly simple, which means she'd have driven down this road" — he dragged his finger down the map — "until she hit the interstate, and from there it's a straight shot west until she hits Wyoming." He stepped back and rubbed at his chin.

"Okay," Dean said, clapping his hands together, "let's load up and head out. We've gotta get to that boneyard before Dani does."

Sam stepped back to allow Ellen and Jo to pass, but when Jo's hand brushed his, she hissed and jumped back. "Ow!"

"What happened?" Dean asked as Sam almost mirrored Jo's reaction.

"I…" Sam's eyes were wide. "I'm sorry, Jo, I'm still a little out of whack."

Jo rubbed her hand and raised her eyebrows, huffing a small laugh. "You weren't joking," she said. "Now I'm even more glad I'm not a corrupt cop."

And then Dean got it. "Think you'll need a pair of gloves?" he asked Sam, but his brother just shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure it won't happen again," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I haven't shattered any more mirrors since this morning, so I shouldn't accidentally electrocute anyone else."

"You sure?" Dean asked. Sam met his eyes briefly before nodding and looking away. Dean repressed the urge to sigh; clearly, Sam was still upset about his Deal. Hell, everyone in the room was, although at least the others had the good grace to act as normal as possible. But then, that wasn't how Sam operated.

Dean scrubbed his face with both hands and forced himself to stay focused. They had a psychic to catch, and, hopefully, at least one demon to kill, but they were quickly running out of time to do it in. It took less than an hour to assemble the things they might need on their journey, and then they piled into their respective cars and peeled out of Bobby's yard. Dean wasn't the praying type, but he hoped they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

><p>The shower Sam took helped to ease his sore and abused muscles, making it easier for him to use his abilities to keep any cops from chasing them as the Impala and Bobby's truck sped down the interstate and across the border into Wyoming. He also tried keeping his senses open on the off-chance that he could find Danielle that way, but all it earned him was another killer headache, though nothing like when he'd come back to life. So, he focused on the cops and nothing else.<p>

The sun was setting by the time the two cars reached one set of the railroad tracks blocking Azazel from whatever was inside. "You sure Dani'll show?" Dean suddenly asked.

Sam glanced over at Dean and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "If she was willing to kill me, then she'll do whatever Azazel tells her to do."

Dean sighed and nodded. "Why did we trust her?"

Sam smiled slightly and looked down at his hands, fingers loosely interlaced in his lap. "Because she was trustworthy," he said.

"Right," Dean said sarcastically.

"She _was_," Sam insisted, "but having nightmares about the future… Dean, it does something to you, changes the way you think, what your priorities are, how you act…" He trailed off and shrugged. "Dani said I was a better person than her, like she already knew what she was gonna have to do."

"Premeditated murder?" Dean shot him an incredulous look.

"She wanted to _save_ me," Sam said sharply. "Visions are painful, intrusive and terrifying."

"Then why didn't she tell us before?"

"I don't think she was able to remember the details at first," Sam said with a shrug. "She knew her nightmares were about me, but the what, where and when…" He gestured helplessly. "It took her months to reach where she's at now, but she didn't want to do any of it."

Dean stared ahead as he continued driving towards the old graveyard. "Just 'cause she didn't want to doesn't mean she had to," he finally said.

Sam swallowed and closed his eyes. "I know," he said, and the two brothers continued their journey in silence.

* * *

><p>The sun had set by the time Danielle reached the railroad tracks mentioned in the directions Azazel had given her. She stopped the car about ten feet away and shut off the engine, slowly sliding out of the car and looking around.<p>

There was no sign of Azazel just yet.

Danielle took a deep breath and started walking forward, reaching the edge of the railroad tracks and stopping. She wondered if they were made of iron, and knew it'd make sense. Whatever was on the other side of these tracks, Azazel clearly thought it was important enough to risk having a psychic human of his own making go and take care of it for him.

"You made it."

Danielle turned to see Azazel leaning against the car.

"Yeah," she said. "I did. You didn't have any doubts, did you?"

Azazel shrugged. "Any troubles?" he asked. "You certainly took your sweet time getting here."

"No," Danielle said. " I was just tired, needed some food and sleep." She crossed her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "What am I doing now that I've made it this far?"

Azazel shot Danielle a grin. "You're driving fifty miles thataway," he told her, pointing across the tracks. Danielle glanced over her shoulder and turned back. "There's a cemetery. A crypt. You gotta open that for me. Think you can do it?"

Danielle swallowed. "What's in the crypt?"

Azazel chuckled. "Always so curious, aren't you?" He stepped forward. "I told you before, I need to unleash my army, and you're the one doin' it." He reached into his jacket and pulled out an old gun, probably a Colt of some kind, if Danielle had to take a guess.

Wait a minute —

"Is that —?"

"The only gun in the universe that can shoot me dead?" Azazel cut her off, holding up the gun with a twisted grin. "Well, yes, but it's also the key to the crypt." He held it out for Danielle to take.

Part of her wanted to just turn the gun on the sick bastard and shoot him there and then, but she already had her orders from an angel. She needed Sam and Dean to get to that cemetery, needed to least let them know about the gun before Sam killed her. So, she slowly stepped forward and removed the Colt from Azazel's hand.

"Why shouldn't I just shoot you now?" she asked, opening the barrel and seeing that there was still the one bullet inside. The Winchesters would be glad to know this. She lowered her arm so the gun hung at her side, finger off the trigger.

"You could," Azazel said with a careless shrug, "but you know that without me around to protect you, you can't ever go home. Dean will probably find you and kill you for stabbing his baby brother in the back."

Danielle couldn't stop a swell of hysterical laughter from bubbling up. "Dean's not gonna kill me," she told Azazel, voice cracking slightly. "It'll be Sam."

Azazel stared at Danielle for a very long moment. "Excuse me?" he said softly, his tone both non-threatening and cheerless for once.

Danielle glanced away and tried to gather her thoughts. "You told Sam you were gonna make sure that both John and Dean went to Hell for him, right?" Azazel nodded. "Only there was no way you could ever get Dean once you had John because of the Deal John made with you. Also," she added after further consideration, "I imagine you're not allowed to interfere with your own competition. You had no way of predicting the outcome of the game, which is where I came in."

The look Azazel gave her now told Danielle he had figured it out.

"I know Sam and Dean better than almost anyone else," Danielle said with a small shrug. "You couldn't interfere, but I could."

"You made sure that Dean made a Deal for Sam's life," Azazel breathed, looking as though he was both annoyed and impressed. "And now you're expecting them to crash the party."

"I go to that cemetery," Danielle said, "and I sign my own death sentence. I mean, I'll still open that crypt door for you, but then I'll probably die."

"Why are you doing this?" Azazel asked after a moment, eyes slightly narrowed.

"You can't fight destiny," Danielle said after a moment, the Colt held loosely in her hand. It was closest she could come to the truth.

Azazel nodded with a thoughtful frown and clapped his hands together. "You'd best be getting a move on, then," he said, grin returning in full force. "I look forward to the show you're about to put on."

Danielle barely refrained from rolling her eyes as Azazel vanished. She slid back behind the wheel of her Subaru, starting the engine and crossing the railroad tracks, terror and an odd sense of peace swirling around inside her.

After everything that had happened, it was finally time to end the game.

* * *

><p>Night had chased away the last bits of sunlight by the time the group of Hunters reached their destination. Sam went to scope out the place with Ellen and Jo while Dean and Bobby hid their cars out of sight.<p>

"She's not here yet?" Jo asked as they made their way through various grave markers, looking for anything that could explain why Danielle was coming here.

"No," Sam said, shaking his head. "We beat her."

"Good," Ellen said. "You hangin' in there, boy?"

Sam glanced over at the older woman and nodded silently before returning his attention to a crypt he had spotted. He made his way over to it, both women following him silently.

"Colt," Jo said, nodding at the inscription just above the crypt's doors, which appeared to be sealed shut with the image of a pentacle. "Is that some kind of keyhole?" she asked, pointing at the middle of the seal.

Sam moved closer, examining the hole. "I think so," he said, "but the shape's kinda weird." He frowned, sensing that there was something different about the crypt. He started to reach out to touch the doors, but then Ellen stepped up next to him and he quickly withdrew his hand.

"You think this is what Danielle's comin' for?" she asked him quietly.

Sam considered before nodding. "We know Azazel's got Samuel Colt's gun," he said as he righted himself and turned to face both women, "and we know this whole place was made by him, too." He glanced back over at the keyhole and suppressed a shiver. "It looks like the gun might be the key," he added after a moment's consideration. "Whatever this opens, she's gonna need the Colt to make it happen."

"This must be that chance to get the gun that Dad mentioned last year," Dean spoke up as he and Bobby made their way over.

"Looks like," Sam said, running a hand through his hair as he tried not to think about how much their father had known and never told them. "You think it's still got the one bullet in it?"

"I sure hope so," Dean said, "otherwise we're gonna be boned as far as the whole 'killing Azazel' thing is concerned." He looked around the graveyard. "So how are we doing this?" he asked. "We can't sneak up on her with the empathy-thing, and there's no way Sam could shield us from her."

"We're just gonna have to wait," Sam said with a shrug, "talk to her, see if we can't get her to stop."

Dean's expression wasn't hopeful at the idea. "I think she's gonna do whatever Azazel told her to," he said, and Sam closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his patience.

"We don't know that for sure, Dean," he said.

"She _killed_ you, Sam," Dean snapped. "She fuckin' stabbed you in the back like a crazy army dude, twist an' all, an' she didn't even look back, just took off like a bat outta hell! You told me you _tried_ to talk her out of it all before me an' Bobby showed up, and _look what happened_. I'm goin' to Hell in a year an' our friend _betrayed_ us!" Dean shook his head forcefully. "There will be no talking, Sammy. We're ganking the bitch the minute we see her."

Sam clenched his jaw and took a few deep breaths. "No," he said. "I need to understand what happened to her, Dean. We are going to wait for her to show, and if she won't stop, I'll kill her myself. But I _will not_ just kill her without at least _trying_ to get her stop first."

"Sam —"

"I'll force you if I have to," Sam cut Dean off. "I'm sorry, Dean, but we're doing this my way, and I will not kill her unless I can't get her to stop."

Dean stared at Sam for a very long moment before turning and walking away. Sam closed his eyes again and scrubbed at his face.

"D'you think you can get her stop?" Bobby asked after a few moments.

"I don't know," Sam said honestly, "but that doesn't mean I won't try. She's my _friend_, she helped me when she never had to, and I can't just…" He trailed off.

"You think she'll be armed?" Ellen asked after a few seconds.

Sam shook his head. "She'd have the Colt, but we told her all about it, so there's no way she'd dare use it," he said. "She might still have that knife she…" He trailed off and forced all the air out through his nose. "It's safe to say that she's unarmed, but still very dangerous."

Ellen nodded and the group fell silent. All there was left to do now was wait.

* * *

><p><em>TBC...<em>


	10. Chapter Ten: The Devil's Gate

**Demon Game**

**Chapter Ten: The Devil's Gate**

**Here's the last chapter of this story! Thank you to everyone who's read, commented and enjoyed. There _is_ a sequel in the works, although it's probably going to be close to two weeks before I can get it started here (I'm trying to find a job and finish unpacking/cleaning everything from my insane 1,000 mile move back home). A full-length summary of what to expect from the next story will be at the end of this chapter. Again, thank you for reading and enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Danielle silently walked into the old graveyard, the Colt held tightly in her right hand as she mentally followed the presence of five people to what she was sure was her final destination.<strong><br>**

Sam and Dean stood before the crypt that was her target, Bobby standing to their left and two women Danielle assumed were Ellen and Jo Harvelle standing to their right.

"Hey," Sam said the moment Danielle was close enough.

Danielle smiled slightly. "Hey," she replied. "You're looking well, Sam."

"You don't seem surprised to see us," Dean stated, jaw clenched in anger, not that Danielle could blame him.

"I'm not," she said simply. "You're standing in my way."

"We're not movin'," Dean said.

"Did you know what Dean was gonna do if you killed me?" Sam asked.

Danielle huffed and scowled. "Do we have to do this right now? I'm kind of on a timetable here."

"I'm not letting you do this, Dani," Sam said, and Danielle's heart panged at the continued use of her nickname. Despite it all, Sam still seemed to care about her.

"You don't even know what's behind those doors," Danielle finally said, nodding at the crypt and blinking away sudden tears.

"And you do?" Dean snapped.

Danielle shrugged. "Azazel says that this is how he's getting his army."

Ellen's eyes narrowed. "A Devil's Gate? You're gonna open a damn door to Hell?"

Danielle frowned. "I guess so," she said, "I mean, you're the experts when it comes to stuff like this."

"You can't want to do this," Jo said, clearly dismayed by the situation.

"I have no choice," Danielle replied. "I've got to open those doors, it's the only way to get him here."

"What?" Sam frowned at her, confused, and Danielle sighed. She still had to get Sam to kill her, but she had to let them know about the Colt. So, she lifted up the gun in her hand, pointing it off to her right so they could clearly see what it was.

"The Colt," Dean said softly.

"It's still got the one bullet in it," Danielle said, "I already checked."

"So why didn't you kill him if you had the chance?"

"Because that's not my destiny!" Danielle snapped, lowering the gun and glaring at Dean. "I have a role to play, Dean! We _all_ have a role to play, and mine is to do whatever Azazel wants me to do."

There was a moment of silence.

"We don't have to do what they want," Sam spoke softly. "We don't have to be what they say we should."

Danielle had to blink back more tears. "Yes, Sam," she said, "we do. I already flipped those switches the way they were supposed to be flipped. I've _accepted_ who and what I am, and I am opening those doors." She swallowed hard. "It didn't occur to me that Dean would make a Deal for you until yesterday afternoon, but I knew it would happen the moment the thought crossed my mind." She met Dean's eyes. "How long d'you get?"

"One year," Dean said. "You happy?"

"Not really," Danielle replied. "I meant to try and save Sam from the future, not…" She trailed off and looked away.

"Please don't do this," Sam pleaded. "Let's just… just walk off the chessboard."

Danielle blinked hard, but a tear finally escaped, trailing down her cheek before she wiped it away. "I can't," she whispered.

Sam closed his eyes and sighed. "Then we have to stop you," he said.

Danielle gave him a wan smile. She wanted to say _I know you will_ or _let's stop and talk about this so I can tell you everything the angel Zachariah told me and then we can end this before the Apocalypse can even try to start_, but she knew what would happen should she try to say any of that. So, she rallied her courage, placed on her mask, met Sam's eyes and said, "I'd like to see you try." Then she gathered her strength and _pushed_.

Everyone was sent flying and Danielle took off like a shot, lifting the Colt once more and jamming it into the lock on the doors of the crypt. Then she turned to see that Sam was already on his feet, a gun in his hands.

Her eyes met Sam's once more and thought about everything that had happened over the last year since Jared's death. All the pain, the loneliness, the fear, confusion, and Danielle wondered if she would have been better off never knowing the truth about angels and demons, or the supernatural world around her. Would it have been better to have never known Sam or Dean, or the pain in their lives? Would she have been better off dying without ever knowing the truth until it was too late to do anything about it?

Danielle's thoughts turned to Sam, the young man who still had faith in the future despite his dark past. She couldn't imagine never having gotten to know him or spent time with him. Sam's issues had somehow given her the strength to confront her own, and she in turn had given him what he needed to keep going.

In that split second's eternity of thought, Danielle knew she was glad that she had met Sam and Dean, that she had spent time with them, healed with them, learned from them and taught them what she could offer in turn. She was truly all the better for having known them both.

The world around her was silent, apart from the unlocking doors behind her and Sam's heavy breathing as he lifted his gun, the safety clicking off like the echoing of a pin dropping in an empty room.

One moment later, a single shot rang out, and Danielle welcomed the pain.

She had played her role. The game was over, and she could finally rest.

* * *

><p>It was like a wall breaking down.<p>

The moment the gun went off, Sam found he was suddenly able to sense Danielle's emotions, and the things he felt…

Peace. Understanding. Relief. No fear.

It was as though she had already known this was going to happen. Known, and accepted.

Sam watched as Danielle broke eye contact and looked down at her abdomen, fingers reaching up to lightly touch the slowly growing stain of blood on her pale blue jacket. She wobbled slightly and dropped to her knees. Sam let go of his gun.

"Dani —" He was already moving toward her without thinking, sliding to his own knees and catching the brunette by the shoulders as she started to list forward, ignoring everything else around him. "Dani, hey, hey, just keep breathing, you're gonna be fine, I'm sorry, okay? Just hang on —"

"It's okay, Sam," Danielle cut him off softly, reaching up to touch his cheek. "This was meant to be. I'm _fine_."

"No," Sam said forcefully, "no, this is _not_ fine, Dani! None of this was supposed to happen!"

"Yes it was," Danielle said gently, and Sam could see the tears gathering in her eyes. "The moment he took you from your family and fed you that blood, we were headed straight for this moment."

"Don't say that," Sam snapped, pulling an old bandana from his back pocket and pressing it to Danielle's wound. She hissed and tried to pull away, but Sam held on as tightly as he could. "I'm sorry I shot you, just hang on, we can _fix _this —"

There was a loud crack as the doors to the crypt flew open, releasing unnumbered souls from the depths of Hell. Sam barely even blinked as noise exploded around him, his entire world on the girl kneeling before him.

"I wasn't supposed to ever meet you," Danielle sighed before coughing. A trickle of blood trailed its way from the corner of her mouth and down her chin, causing Sam's panic to grow even more. "I wasn't important until Azazel kidnapped you and changed everything. He — " She coughed again. "He changed the world, but I made it right."

"Don't say that," Sam pleaded, ignoring another sharp cracking sound as the iron railroads surrounding the boneyard were broken open. It was utter chaos around him, but for some reason, it seemed that little of the noise penetrated the small space he and Danielle occupied.

"You — you gotta promise me somethin'," Danielle's voice was starting to rasp as her face paled. She coughed again and grasped as hard as she could manage at the back of Sam's neck. "You gotta… control your anger, Sam… Don't let it control you…" She trailed off and blinked hazily before coughing again. "I'm sorry it — that it has to be this way."

"It doesn't," Sam said, gently placing his free hand against Danielle's jaw, suddenly fascinated by how small she really was compared to him. "Dani, it doesn't!"

"But it does," Danielle told him. "He told me it does —" She started coughing again, her small frame shaking from the force of it. "Can't — can't fight destiny."

"Yes you can," Sam told her sharply. "Dani, we've made it this far, please don't…"

Danielle smiled at Sam and looked up at the night sky. "I'm gonna see Jared again," she whispered. "They promised me…" Sam stared at Danielle, confused as she gazed upward for a moment more before meeting his eyes again. Then she leaned forward and placed a barely-there kiss on his lips, a mere brushing before she whispered, "It's time to let me go, Sam."

"No," Sam's voice broke. "Dani, _please_ don't."

Danielle blinked and a few tears escaped, trailing down her cheeks and shining faintly in the moonlight. Sam could see her eyes losing focus, could feel her emotions slipping away. "Don't tell my family what I did," she breathed, closing her eyes before gasping for breath.

"No…" Sam whispered brokenly as he felt Danielle's life ebb away, her small body going limp in his arms. He pulled her close and squeezed his eyes shut. _"No…"_

Danielle was dead.

Sam didn't pay attention as damned souls streamed over his head, swirling violently away from the Devil's Gate. He just couldn't be bothered to care.

He had killed the only person who even remotely understood what he'd been through, and he couldn't even claim that it was an accident. He had knowingly done this, knowingly aimed for a spot on Danielle's body where she would bleed out quickly.

He was a full-fledged killer now.

* * *

><p>Dean narrowly avoided hitting his head on a grave marker and rolled a couple times before struggling to his knees.<p>

A gunshot rang out in the darkness, and Dean panicked for a moment, thinking that Danielle had used the Colt, after all. Then he looked up and saw that the Colt had been put into the keyhole, the seal around it turning in different directions as it presumably unlocked itself. Then he looked at Danielle.

She was bleeding.

Sam held his gun in his hands.

There was a faintly peculiar look on Danielle's face as she reached up to touch the slowly growing stain on her jacket, but Dean didn't get a chance to figure out what it meant, because she was down on her knees and Sam was moving towards her in a panic, catching her and whispering to her desperately.

Dean's eyes strayed back to the crypt doors. The Colt!

He was running forward before he even registered the motion, bypassing Sam and Danielle as he reached for the gun. There was a loud clank, and Dean could only assume the doors were now completely unlocked as he pulled the gun free.

"Get down!" Ellen shouted, and Dean turned tail, passing an oblivious Sam and jumping over the nearest headstone.

The Devil's Gate slammed open like a dam bursting at the seams, instantly followed by the screeching of damned souls twisting wildly towards the railroad tracks separating them from the rest of the world. Dean knew better than to hope they would hold against that many demons.

Seconds later, he heard another crack and knew the demons were free.

"_It's the only way to get him here."_

Dean looked down at the Colt and quickly opened the barrel, seeing that Danielle was right about the one bullet still being inside. He couldn't pretend to understand what had been going on inside her head, but she had knowingly given him what he needed.

Dean pushed to his feet and turned to look for Sam.

He was still kneeling on the ground, holding Danielle's body close. It didn't take a genius to realize that she was dead, and Dean felt a pang of mixed emotions at the sight. Just then, Bobby ran past him with Ellen and Jo on his heels.

"We've gotta get the doors closed!" Ellen shouted to him, and he turned to follow when he spotted a figure he hadn't seen since January.

"Azazel," he growled, changing course in an instant and raising the gun. The time for revenge, the chance to stop this demon from causing any more pain and destruction had finally arrived, and Dean was gonna make damn sure that the yellow-eyed demon breathed his last.

Unfortunately, Azazel spotted him before he could do anything and he was sent flying once again, this time hitting the side of his head against an old headstone. He blinked hazily before he was shoved against the headstone and the Colt was ripped from his hand as blood dripped down the side of his face.

"Oh, Dean," Azazel laughed from above him, and he worked to focus on the form now standing before him, idly holding the gun in its hands. "Did you really think you could stop me?" Azazel crouched down and grinned at Dean. "You should know by now that mere mortals like yourself don't stand a chance against me."

Dean glared hard at Azazel. "We almost had you once," he ground out, "and we can do it again."

"So confident!" Azazel's yellow eyes flashed in the darkness. "The man who is going to Hell in a year thinks he can stop a demon."

Dean glared at Azazel.

"Danielle was kind enough to tell me that she managed to deliver on a promise I couldn't keep," Azazel added after a moment. "And a good thing, too. Your daddy proved a little too hard to break."

Dean didn't quite understand, but he felt an irrational surge of pride, anyway. "No one breaks Dad," he told Azazel. "And no one breaks us."

"But I already broke Sammy once," Azazel pointed out. "I can easily do it, again." He rose, staring at the gun in his hands. "I have my champion," he said, "and you're in the way of what happens next. Wanna head downstairs 365 days ahead of schedule?" He laughed and raised the Colt, pointing it at Dean's head. " I'd say 364, but it's leap year next year. Anyway…" He shrugged. "I can't say I'll miss ya. Say 'hi' to Alistair for me?"

The gun was suddenly ripped from his hands, landing next to Dean, who still couldn't move. A moment later, Sam stepped into sight, hand outstretched and an expression of grief mixed with hard anger on his face.

"Sammy!" Azazel said brightly. "You're back in the game and better than ever, am I right?"

Sam just glared at Azazel. "Leave Dean alone," he said simply.

Azazel actually seemed to consider for a moment. "I told you that I'd get Dean in Hell," he said, "and I'd like to see it happen now rather than later."

"No," Sam said. "This ends tonight. No more powers, or demon blood, or any of it. You're dying tonight."

Azazel stared at Sam for a moment, and then he grinned.

The ensuing battle reminded Dean a great deal of the video that had been delivered to him and John when Sam had been Azazel's prisoner nearly a year ago. Azazel was clearly stronger than the demon of that fight, and Sam was without the demon blood that had made him a real force to be reckoned with, but it clearly wasn't going to stop him.

Dean sat, pinned to the old headstone, watching as Sam slowly took more hits and began to tire. He wanted to help him, wanted to reach for the damn gun, but Azazel's powers weren't relenting.

"This needs to stop, Sam," Azazel called out after Sam slammed into a tree and slumped to his knees, breathing heavily. "I need you in tip-top condition for what's coming."

"I'm not stopping," Sam snarled, slowly pushing back to his feet.

"You can't save Dean," Azazel said, voice hard for the first time. "There's no way out unless you wanna die again, and you know that Dean would sooner kill himself than let that happen."

Sam looked towards Dean, but his hair was hanging in his face as he braced himself against the tree, so Dean couldn't make out his expression. "I'm not giving up," Sam finally said. "If there's a way out, I'll find it."

Azazel actually looked displeased as he raised a hand and clenched it into a fist. Sam cried out, dropping back to his knees and clutching at his chest. Part of Dean wanted to turn his head away, wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't. He owed Sam better than that.

That's when he saw the flicker of a ghost from the corner of his eye, a figure moving towards Azazel with steady steps, clearly intent on its mission.

It was John.

Azazel didn't notice the approaching spirit until John was on him, wrapping his arms around the body the demon was inhabiting and pulling the demon right out. Dean watched as the dead body dropped lifelessly to the ground and noticed two things.

Sam had stopped screaming.

He could move his arm.

Dean seized his chance.

* * *

><p>Sam wanted to curl into himself when the pain finally stopped, but he wanted to know how it had happened, and his curiosity won out. He lifted his head, body shaking from the fight and pain, and he felt his eyes go wide when he realized what he was seeing.<p>

John had pulled Azazel out of his vessel and was wrestling with him, clearly trying to stop him hurting Sam any longer. "Dad," he breathed.

Seconds later, the black smoke that comprised Azazel's true form shook John's spirit off, and he was thrown away, landing beyond some headstones. Sam struggled to stand as the smoke streamed back into the corpse it had been occupying, and then Azazel was rising to his feet, looking beyond pissed off. Sam braced himself, but Azazel stopped moving.

He was looking at Dean.

Dean had the Colt in his hand.

No one said anything as the gun went off, bullet hitting Azazel in the heart. The demon appeared stunned, jaw going slack as the bullet did what it was supposed to do. Sam watched as he sparked and flashed from the inside out, body jerking spasmodically before Azazel dropped to his knees and then slumped to the ground, the bright and eerie yellow of his eyes fading to a pale blue.

He was finally dead.

Sam managed to get upright again, using the tree behind him as support once more as Dean and John slowly rose, as well.

There was a loud 'boom' as the doors to the Devil's Gate were finally closed, and Sam was vaguely aware of Bobby, Ellen and Jo turning to face them. However, his main focus, like Dean, was on their father, and he forced himself forward, ignoring the dead body on the ground in favor of reaching Dean's side.

He tripped about two feet away, but Dean caught him and helped him steady himself as John approached them both. There were tears running silently down his face as clapped Dean on the shoulder and smiled at Sam. He didn't say anything, but both brothers understood, anyway.

_Thank you. I love you. Good-bye._

John stepped away, looking, for the first time Sam could remember, to be at peace with himself. He closed his eyes, and Sam could sense him letting go as he faded into a bright light that slowly dissipated until only the moonlight was left to give light to the now-silent graveyard.

"We did it," Dean whispered.

"Yeah," Sam said just as quietly, heart aching for both John and Danielle. "We did."

* * *

><p>Dean wouldn't take the dead body that Azazel had possessed anywhere, while Sam refused to leave Danielle behind. "She sold us out," Dean said as Sam lifted her body.<p>

"I sensed that she knew she was gonna die tonight," Sam retorted. "Something more happened than what we know, but all this…" He shook his head. "Dani was just as much a victim as we were."

Dean didn't like it, but Sam couldn't be made to change his mind, so they wrapped her body up with some spare blankets Bobby had before driving away from the old boneyard. Dean had a mild concussion and Sam needed stitches, so they hit up the nearest hospital to get checked out, Sam telling the authorities that they had been attacked while camping by men with guns who had shot Danielle before Sam and Dean were able to fight them off.

Sam still had his Jedi powers, so their story was accepted without question. He also made sure they would get Danielle's body sent back home to Provo before insisting that he and Dean needed to return there, as well.

"What are you gonna tell her parents?" Dean asked as Sam drove to the nearest motel for a few hours rest.

Sam didn't say anything for a minute, eyes on the road and shoulders tense, probably from physical and emotional pain. "I don't know," he said, "but they deserve to know from us, not some state official."

Dean frowned, but didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"There's an army of demons out there," he finally stated.

"I know," Sam said. "Bobby said he'd try to find out where they all went."

"We should be helping him," Dean said.

"Ellen and Jo can do that," Sam replied. "We're going to Provo first thing in the morning and we're gonna stay for the funeral, too."

Dean stared over at Sam. "Sam —"

"Don't," Sam said. "Danielle was a good person who got influenced to do some bad things, and I don't know why. I have to do this, I have to find out what happened." He glanced over at Dean. "After that, I'm gonna do everything I can to get you out of your Deal."

Dean sighed.

"I know what I said," Sam continued before he could speak. "I researched after Dad…" He trailed off and took a deep breath before continuing, "Look, I know there's nothing _you_ can do, but I still have to try. If there _is_ a way out, I'll find it. Don't give up, not yet."

Dean swallowed, uncertain as to what he should say in response. "Okay," he finally settled on as Sam turned into the parking lot of a small motel.

"Okay," Sam said in return, giving Dean a small smile before getting out of the Impala to check them into a room. Dean watched him go, sadly acknowledging that the last of his little brother's innocence had finally been shattered. Jessica's death had knocked him down, but he'd found his feet again. Being kidnapped by Azazel and losing Dad had severely shaken his self-confidence and almost thrown him completely off-axis, but he had managed to retain his foundations and build himself back up. Being killed by a trusted friend and then brought back to life only to find that your brother had traded his soul… It had done something completely different. Sam's posture was still straight, and he still carried himself with self-confidence, but the look in his eyes had changed. He was more hardened to the harsh realities of their world, maybe less likely to look for the good in everything over finding the cold, hard facts.

The worst part of it was that death hadn't done any of this to Sam. Dean had done it. Dean had put that new look in his eyes. He couldn't bear to live in a world without Sam alive in it, but he was willing to leave Sam in the world without him. It had clearly hurt Sam far more deeply than their dad's Deal had, but Dean couldn't bring himself to regret his actions. He really would make the same choice every time.

Sam returned to the Impala, jangling the key to their room, and Dean got out to get his things from the trunk. He knew that their work was far from done, but an important battle had been won, and for now, they were both still standing, still breathing, still capable of fighting. Whatever came next, they would face it together.

Hoisting his duffel bag onto his shoulder, Dean followed Sam to their room. There was much to come, but for now, Dean focused on the present, on Sam's soft breathing, knowing there was a firm heartbeat still driving Sam forward. Everything else could wait, he told himself, and he let the motel room door swing shut behind him, locking out the rest of the world.

* * *

><p><em>End<em>

**The sequel will be called "Demon Year" (I think, it's still a working title for now), and the summary is as follows:**

**_As Dean's year comes closer to an end, Sam tries to find a way out of his Deal, despite knowing there's probably nothing he can do. Meanwhile, there's an unleashed army of damned souls to track down and return to Hell, a supposedly "good" demon named Ruby following the Winchester's almost everywhere, an escaped Gordon Walker hunting them down to kill Sam once and for all, and the FBI on their trail once again. If that isn't enough, a new enemy from Hell arises, and not only does she want Sam's head on a pointy stick, but she'll send as many demons after him as she can until he's dead. Danielle Young's best friend Roxy Parker continues to be drawn further into the world of the supernatural as she tries to head off the FBI's search for Sam and Dean and starts taking on demons of her own, all in the name of staying in contact with the Winchesters. Can Dean protect Sam until his Deal comes due? Will everyone even manage to survive the oncoming year? This story will have Ellen and Jo along with my OC's Roxy, her girlfriend Taryn, Danielle's family, and others_**.

**Thank you, everyone, for reading. I hope you've enjoyed the ride!**


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